ByChelsea Harvey| 06/27/2023 06:07 AM EDT

A paddleboarder glides along Lady Bird Lake during a heat wave in Austin, Texas, last week. Eric Gay/AP Photo

The oppressive heat wave roasting Texas and Mexico is rekindling a scientific debate about the effects that Arctic climate change might have on weather patterns around the world.

Many experts say that rapid warming in the Arctic — where temperatures are rising four times faster than the global average — may cause an increase in these kinds of long-lasting extreme weather events.

It all comes down to the jet stream, a fast-flowing air current that wraps around the Northern Hemisphere. Many researchers theorize that rising temperatures in the Arctic are altering the atmosphere in ways that disrupt the jet stream’s flow, causing it to dip and meander up and down as it zooms around the…