The unusual weather Korea has experienced in recent months, including the extreme cold snap this winter, could have been triggered by aerosol particles from the Arctic.

These are the findings of a collaborative study by the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, Seoul National University, Hawaii University and NASA.

The report, released on Monday, said climate changes in the Arctic region and the El-Nino climate pattern over the Mid-Pacific are likely to be behind the abnormal weather conditions in Korea.

The study will be published in the scientific journals Nature Climate Change and Nature Geoscience.