Spring Frosts Across Türkiye: A Warning from a Disrupted Climate System
The frost events experienced across Türkiye this spring were not merely a meteorological surprise — they were a warning sign of a deeper disruption unfolding within the climate system. At a time when trees had already blossomed, fields had been planted, and farmers had planned their harvests, a single night of frost wiped out an entire year’s labor in some regions and permanently damaged trees that had taken decades to grow. Behind this event lies a complex process that leads many to ask: How can such intense cold still occur in an age of global warming? The polar vortex is a massive ring of cold air circulating in the upper atmosphere around the Arctic, roughly 10 to 50 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. Under normal conditions, this vortex remains strong and confines cold air near the poles. In recent years, however, the system has weakened as the temperature difference between the equator and the poles has decreased. The polar regions are warming at more than twice the global ave...