over the last five or six years, we are at a low in the solar cycle, which meant that polar air was pushing down into north america, blocking some of the effects of the warming oceans. what you had was this epic battle, and the oceans generally won, but it kept the warming in check.
now, the solar cycle is entering an uptick, which is going to bottle up the cold air into the polar regions and allow the warming oceans to wreak havoc. and, these are the kinds of things we're going to see more often.
the solar cycle will flip back in time, but the damage may already be done, if the feedback cycles kick in.
so, this is the time frame that we actually have - 12 years or so. that's all we've got.