The Evidence Is Thin. The Consequences Are Real

Chris Mooney, author of Storm World, is the person I turn to to help make out what, if anything, enormous weather events like the tornadoes in the South mean in the aggregate. As he says: “I want to approach the subject of this post with considerable caution.”

Everybody knows that tornadoes in February are rare. The intensity of several of them was terrifying. But Mooney cites the IPCC to say this does not prove global warming, or even that these are the effects of global warming.

There is insufficient evidence to determine whether trends exist in the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) of the global ocean or in small-scale phenomena such as tornadoes, hail, lightning and dust-storms.

It doesn’t do the opposite either. Read all of Mooney’s post, and then my comment/question to him following.

For more analysis of the tornadoes themselves, with photos and measurements go to Jeff Masters at Wunderground.

For a news report of the (related?) heavy snow, rain and rising waters in the states south of the Great Lakes see this.

Update: This chart is a bit of what I was asking for in my comment on Mooney’s post. It shows class F2-F5 tornadoes against smaller ones, from 1950 to now. Interestingly, the number of small tornadoes has increased since 1990, though it is said to be a matter of better reporting than actual increase. The numbers of high intensity storms has decreased — one prediction of global warming models.