Melting Arctic sea ice is a problem not just for polar bears and sea otters.

Photo: Alaska Fish & Wildlife Service

A new study published in Geophysical Research Letters (subscription required) links rising temperatures in the Far North to changes in the behavior of the jet stream, resulting in prolonged, extreme weather events such as the 2011 Texas drought and heavy snows in Europe in recent years.

In an analysis of the scientific paper, Climate Central writer Andrew Freedman discusses how Arctic amplification, a phenomenon involving feedbacks between sea ice, snow, water vapor and clouds, contributes to the rapid warming of the region, how that warming causes the jet stream to slow, and how a slowed jet stream affects weather patterns around the world.

Watch how the jet stream moves across the globe.