“Rains that are almost biblical, heat waves that don’t end, tornadoes that strike in savage swarms—there’s been a change in the weather lately. What’s going on?” Peter Miller, National Geographic.
There’s been a change in the weather. “Extreme events like the
Nashville flood—described by officials as a once-in-a-millennium occurrence—are happening more frequently than they used to. A month before Nashville, torrential downpours dumped 11 inches of rain on
Rio de Janeiro in 24 hours, triggering mudslides that buried hundreds. About three months after Nashville, record rains in
Pakistan caused flooding that affected more than 20 million people. In late 2011 floods in
Thailand submerged hundreds of factories near Bangkok, creating a worldwide shortage of computer hard drives.
Read more [...]
What factors contribute to
extreme weather?
While many environmental groups have been warning about extreme weather conditions for a few years, the World Meteorological Organization announced in July 2003 that “Recent scientific assessments indicate that, as the global temperatures continue to warm due to climate change, the number and intensity of extreme events might increase.”
Of course global warming should lead to more—and more powerful—tornadoes.
We're adding energy to the atmosphere by trapping heat with greenhouse gases, and tornadoes are the very picture of terrifying atmospheric energy.
Linking any particular weather event to climate change is always tricky, because weather is inherently random. But weather patterns can speak to a warming planet. Read more [...] 
