As Oklahomans begin the recovery from the devastating tornado that ripped through Tornado Alley earlier this week—destroying the town of Moore in the process and killing 24 people at last count—many people are asking if this tornado could be linked to global warming and climate change.
The answer to that question is that there’s a definite possibility of a firm maybe. (Actually, no one weather event can ever be truly linked to climate change; rather, it’s the trends of weather patterns that that can more easily be linked to a warming planet.)
Global warming has very strong science to support that it’s the main culprit in the increase seen in many of the extreme weather phenomena we’ve been experiencing in recent years. Things like major downpours floods and hurricanes can all be linked to our greenhouse gas emissions because they are all phenomena related to more heat and more moisture in the air, two things global warming leads to. (Even droughts and wildfires are related due to the absence of moisture, typically becasue all of the water was dumped earlier in the season. It’s weather whiplash at its finest.)
Tornadoes are a little trickier, though. Continue reading