THE GREENLAND STIRRING ROD: PRESSURE DRAG AND THE ATLANTIC STORM TRACK

Greenland, the largest island in the world, extends one quarter of the distance between the North Pole and Equator. Averaging 1.5 km in height and reaching skyward more than 3.5 km (about 650 hPa), it dominates the topography of the far north. While it lies north of the maximum zonal-mean westerly winds, the existence of wintertime planetary waves episodically places Greenland in the path of the polar jet stream and associated developing cyclonic systems. The giant island seems to act as a "stirring rod" in the high-latitude circulation, guiding cyclonic systems as far north as the Arctic, where they strongly influence the movement and melting of the already declining Arctic sea …