Climate change could be making the fearsome storms stronger, after the tornadoes devastated thousands of homes and killed dozens across Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
Dr. Robert Rohde, lead scientist at Berkeley Earth, said on Saturday morning that severe tornadoes can happen in any season if the weather is warm.
December has the lowest number of tornadoes in the USA.
Climate change could have made the storms worse, as multiple other scientists say. A new report from the Washington Post gathered insights from many scientists who said that storms like this may become more common and should be further researched.
A lot of people are waking up today and wondering if this is the new normal. Victor Gensini is a meteorology professor at Northern Illinois University. It will be some time before we can say for certain what role climate change played in yesterday's event.
The storms become violent when the air and cold front clash. According to the WaPo, the tornado's path helped create a more powerful storm, with temperatures rising into the 70s to 80 degrees Friday evening. The 103-year-old record high in Memphis was broken when the temperature hit 78 degrees Farenheit.
Gensini told the Post that the atmospheric environments will be more supportive for cool-season tornado events.
Scientists say we still have more to learn about the link between climate change and worsening tornados.
One of the most extreme events where we have the least confidence in our ability to attribute or understand the impact of climate change is tornadoes. There is no evidence that the number of strong tornadoes is different today than it was a century ago.
Although scientists may need more time to figure out how tornadoes may be changing, residents in other parts of the country know how long the damage lasts after buildings are repaired and power is restored.
The residents of Nashville took to social media to talk about surviving the March 2020 tornado that decimated the historic music venues and bars. Many shared photos of their tornado safety planning and how anxious they were during the storm.
Holly McCall, a news editor in Tennessee, said she hadn't stayed up this late before.
People in the South and Midwest know how devastating these storms are, and many say they have never seen anything like it. Although it is hard to admit, back-to-back years with high tornado death tolls means it may be a matter of time until data catches up with what everyday people seem to already believe: the weather is getting worse.
Scientists are building a black box to record the end of civilization.
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