Thursday, March 8, 2012

Re: Climate Change: Midwest Tornadoes: Record Week Of Twisters Hit America's Heartland, Warmest February

Gosh Batman. 4 Ice Ages before man walked the Earth, and 2 since, and
both of those were LONG before we could SPELL, "fossil fuel".

Shhh! Don tell 'em. Its just too much fun. :-)
On Mar 8, 11:30 am, plainolamerican <plainolameri...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Climate Change
> ---
> continuously occurs ... get used to it
>
> On Mar 8, 9:14 am, Tommy News <tommysn...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Climate Change: Midwest Tornadoes: Record Week Of Twisters Hit
> > America's Heartland, Warmest February
>
> > By Sharon Begley
>
> > NEW YORK, March 5 (Reuters) - When at least 80 tornadoes rampaged
> > across the United States, from the Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico, last
> > Friday, it was more than is typically observed during the entire month
> > of March, tracking firm AccuWeather.com reported on Monday.
>
> > According to some climate scientists, such earlier-than-normal
> > outbreaks of tornadoes, which typically peak in the spring, will
> > become the norm as the planet warms.
>
> > "As spring moves up a week or two, tornado season will start in
> > February instead of waiting for April," said climatologist Kevin
> > Trenberth of the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
>
> > Whether climate change will also affect the frequency or severity of
> > tornadoes, however, remains very much an open question, and one that
> > has received surprisingly little study.
>
> > "There are only a handful of papers, even to this day," said
> > atmospheric scientist Robert Trapp of Purdue University, who led a
> > pioneering 2007 study of tornadoes and climate change.
>
> > "Some of us think we should be paying more attention to it," said
> > atmospheric physicist Anthony Del Genio of the Goddard Institute for
> > Space Studies, part of NASA.
>
> > The scientific challenge is this: the two conditions necessary to
> > spawn a twister are expected to be affected in opposite ways. A warmer
> > climate will likely boost the intensity of thunderstorms but could
> > dampen wind shear, the increase of wind speed at higher altitudes,
> > researchers say.
>
> > Tomorrow's thunderstorms will pack a bigger wallop, but may strike
> > less frequently than they have historically, explained Del Genio.
>
> > "As we go to a warmer atmosphere, storms - which transfer energy from
> > one region to another - somehow figure out how to do that more
> > efficiently," he said. As a result, thunderstorms transfer more energy
> > per outbreak, and so have to make such transfers less often.
>
> > In a 2011 paper, Del Genio calculated that, "especially in the central
> > and eastern United States, we can expect a few more days per month
> > with conditions favorable to severe thunderstorm occurrence" by the
> > latter part of this century if the global climate grows warmer.
>
> > Indeed, the world has been experiencing more violent storms since
> > 1970, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported in its
> > most recent assessment.
>
> > EXTENDING TORNADOES' PATH
>
> > Purdue's Trapp and colleagues got a similar result in their 2007
> > study, which they confirmed in research published in 2009 and 2011.
> > "The number of days when conditions exist to form tornadoes is
> > expected to increase" as the world warms, he said.
>
> > In addition, they found, regions near the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic
> > coasts not normally associated with tornadoes will experience
> > tornado-making weather more frequently. They projected a doubling in
> > the number of days with such conditions in Atlanta and New York City,
> > for instance.
>
> > More powerful thunderstorms would be expected to produce more
> > tornadoes, but wind shear could prove a mitigating factor.
>
> > Because climate change is not uniform, Del Genio wrote in the 2011
> > paper, "in the lower troposphere, the temperature difference between
> > low and high latitudes decreases as the planet warms, creating less
> > wind shear."
>
> > Other scientists are not so sure, and they see a surge in tornadoes
> > last year as ominous. April 2011 was the most active tornado month on
> > record, with 753, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
> > Administration (NOAA), compared to the previous record of 267 in April
> > 1974.
>
> > "I have no doubt that there will be many times when wind shear is
> > plenty strong to create a tornado," said Trenberth.
>
> > That is what Trapp's team concluded in their 2007 study. "Over most of
> > the United States," they wrote, the increase in the power of
> > thunderstorms will "more than compensate for the relative decreases in
> > shear."
>
> > As a result, "the environment would still be considered favorable for
> > severe convection" of the kind that creates tornadoes.
>
> > From March to May the projected increase in severe storms is "largest
> > over a 'tornado-alley'-like region extending northward from Texas,"
> > Trapp found. From June through August, the eastern half of the country
> > is projected to experience such an increase.
>
> > If there are more days in the future when wind shear is too weak to
> > produce a tornado from a thunderstorm, said Trenberth, then "the
> > frequency of tornadoes may decrease but the average intensity might
> > increase. You could have a doozy of an outbreak, and then they could
> > go away for a while."
>
> > On average, about 800 tornados are reported annually in the United
> > States. About 70 percent are "weak," finds NOAA, with winds less than
> > 110 mph (177 kph) . Just under 29 percent are "strong," with winds
> > between 110 and 205 mph (177 and 329 kph) . Only 2 percent of all
> > tornadoes are what NOAA characterizes as "violent," with winds in
> > excess of 205 mph (329 kph) , but they account for 70 percent of all
> > twister deaths. (Editing by Michele Gershberg and Sandra Maler)
>
> > More:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/06/midwest-tornadoes-record-wee...
>
> > --
> > Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
> > Have a great day,
> > Tommy
>
> > --
> > Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
> > Have a great day,
> > Tommy

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