Study links polar vortex, California drought to climate change

A study due to be published soon concludes that there is a link between climate change and both the ongoing drought in California and this winter’s polar vortex.

The Associated Press reported that Simon Wang, a Utah State University scientist, wrote the research and hopes that he can help predict future winters with extreme weather events.

{mosads}The study says both events were caused by a combination of high press in the West and low pressure in the Great Lakes. It linked the events to a precursor the El Nino that scientists recently discovered, which itself was caused by a buildup of greenhouse gases, AP said.

The research will appear in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Attempts to link recent extreme weather to climate change have proven controversial. Most scientists say it is difficult to draw the link to individual events.