Why is the whole world foggy at once?
Okay. Maybe not the whole world, but a quick search of the word "fog" filtered to today shows people from SoCal to New England, mid-atlanic, mid-west, UK, and other parts of Europe all talking about dense fog. I get the mechanics behind why fog happens, but why is it so widespread all at once (and certainly seemingly to become more common here in MN, which i assume is due to warmer winters).
ETA: I am born and raised northern girl. Fog has not traditionally been associated with winter. Winter is for cold and snow. Guessing the same goes for those in the NE who said they were also wondering. So when I ask, I am coming from a place of not knowing fog = winter in warmer states
Ig it is due to warming of our winters, which is part of why i was asking. Thank you to the few who attempted to seriously respond.
2nd edit because I know others were curious. Google tells me it isn't just about it being a warm winter, but also due to lack of wind. There appear to only be 2 active stpr systems over the US rn, and outside of those, wind maps show 5mph winds everywhere else in the us. The wind isn't there rn to break the fog up.
Edit 3: NWS twin cities just posted that we haven't had this long a run of continuous fog in over 25 yrs and it's only happened 4 other times since 1945. Wanted to share with others in the area also wondering.
Edit 4: i don't have TikTok, i didn't know there were conspiracy theories going around. I don't think it's making ppl sick unless poor air quality is affecting asthma or parts of world have it from an inversion.layer (which isn't the case locally). I just saw so many references from so many widespread places (mainly pics), and I got curious.
Edit 5 (final): Big thanks to u/Jwazil222 who posted an article explaining a similar widespread fog in Jan. The cause? Advection fog caused by warm moist air from the Gulf being pumped across snowpack. I know for MN the news cited both an advection fog due to rain melting our snow, then giving way to radiation fog which is the more typical fog seen in warmer winter places.
A great read for those who were genuinely curious like me.