They said that “something” slammed against the top of the polar vortex.
They don’t say what but from their “story” (fairy tale) it must have been global warming/climate change/fairy dust.
Climate models usually only count solar irradiance, that is to say only the light coming from the Sun in their models. When there is a lot of solar activity, sunspots and coronal holes, the irradiance drops.
BUT the net energy delivered rises, in terms of solar particles, solar wind, and Coronal Mass Ejections. The most used models totally neglect these inputs.
With the weakening magnetic field, there is less shielding of these charged particles, they are still funneled to the magnetic poles, but not as slowed down. The slam into the atmosphere there.
That counts as “something” slamming against the top of the polar vortex...