Al Roker's Extreme Weather by Al Roker

Author:Al Roker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2017-07-22T04:00:00+00:00

It’s important to drink enough water to help your body stay hydrated in the heat.

EXTREME COLD

No matter where you live, temperatures are always colder in the winter and warmer in the summer. Exactly how cold and warm they get depends on where your home is on the globe. In general, places closer to the equator enjoy warmer winters and endure sweltering summers. Places closer to the poles shiver in the winter, and have cooler summers.

In the Northern Hemisphere, however, shifts in the jet stream can have a dramatic effect on exactly how cold things get in the winter. That’s because the jet stream corrals an area of very cold air and high pressure, called the polar vortex, around the North Pole. Differences between the low pressure of the vortex and higher pressure farther south fuel the strong winds of the jet stream, which hold all of that cold air in place. When temperatures around the pole are warmer than usual, there isn’t as much difference in pressure between the two zones, and that weakens the jet stream, which can cause it to move. When that happens, the polar vortex reaches farther south, bringing its freezing temperatures down into North America.

Bundle Up

In cold weather, your body has to work to keep you warm. Blood vessels near the skin constrict, or become smaller, so that less heat will be lost. Your body also changes the way that it uses energy, burning calories to release heat into your body. If temperatures get too cold, you start to shiver—your muscles contract and rattle, creating even more heat. But sometimes that isn’t enough. If fingers, noses, and toes become too cold, parts of them can freeze, a condition called frostbite. In the worst cases, frostbite leads to gangrene, a condition in which the tissues die. If your body can’t keep itself warm enough on the inside, it is called hypothermia. Hypothermia can be life-threatening. It’s important to stay warm and dry, wearing appropriate clothes and staying out of extreme cold as much as possible.

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