Are the tornados in the Midwest connected to Global Warming?

Question

Yes, I realize human activity is not ENTIRELY the cause of global warming. You have the best points so far Sweet Night Shade.

Answer 1

Not global warming, but global cooling.  According to global warming theory, extreme weather events should increase due to increases in temperatures.  So if temperatures had increased over last year,  one can make that claim, although it would still be unproved.  The problem is we are seeing a drop in temperatures during the past year.  So there is no way that "global warming" can be the cause of these tornadoes.

Answer 2

Likely not, as active tornado seasons are the norm in la nina years. This is a la nina year.

Answer 3

Yes,Tornadoes in the midwest connected to global warming;because the innest part of thiese gale cylinders are hottest.

Answer 4

Yes, Global Climate Change (this term is more accurate than 'global warming') is correlated to an increase of intensity and duration of Hurricanes, cyclones, tornadoes, El Nino's and La Nina's. Since the industrial revolution there has been a marked increase of greenhouse gases and this has caused temperature changes resulting in weather and health problems. There is scientific consensus that affirms the reality and science of global climate change.

Climate change affects more than just natural disasters though. There are key-stone species that are being affected as well and without them the ecosystems of the ocean, forests, as well as Agriculture are weakening. This loss of integrity is showing problems for people all ready in many ways. We can have an impact in reducing global climate change right now!

More info here:

http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/2...

http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/climatec...

http://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007b/071203...

http://www.ucsusa.org/

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/scienc...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0hHlxaYN...

http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.artic...

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0217...

My class lecture:

Rob McConnell states, “These findings are consistent with an emerging body of evidence that local traffic around homes and schools may be causing an increase in asthma. This is a potentially important public health problem because many children live near major roads.”

            Melanie Marty, chief of the air toxicology unit at the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment says, “What is undisputed is children are more vulnerable than adults, and higher exposure to toxic chemicals early in life increases the risk of cancer in adult years”.

Bad Air Day

Imagine you are microscopic, and that you are living in someone’s body filling a niche as part of their natural biology. And it has been a very comfortable and happy life for you and all of your ancestors. So much so that you have become a very successful organism in this body, and in certain ways have come to dominate in this person’s biology. Well, you are that organism and I want to tell you about how our biosphere, the earth’s atmosphere which has made us so successful and happy. And I also want to untangle the concepts of the greenhouse effect and global warming.

            The green house affect is a simple analogy, the earth is the plant and the panes of glass of a green house are compared as the earth’s atmosphere. And the plant in the green house thrives because the temperature within the green house is kept steady day and night and throughout the year.

In fact, the green house effect has meant everything to our survival. Atmospheric gasses on our planet that have naturally occurred have been fundamental to our evolution because green house gasses and some particles have kept the world an average temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit, between freezing and boiling. Without the green house effect most life on our planet would die, the world would be frozen with an average temperature of five degrees Fahrenheit. This information on Assembly Bill 1493 (Pavley) signed by the Governor on July 22, 2002.

I credit John Houghton’s’ book called Global Warming 2004, for the following information, and I am drawing from his list of figures and data from the reports he prepared for IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The most important feature of the green house effect is the ability for the earth’s atmosphere to absorb and release radiation. Radiation is in two sub-groups, the first is solar (what we get from space), and the second is thermal (what the earth releases from its surface and the atmosphere).  

There are certain molecules in the earth’s atmosphere such as carbon dioxide, methane, and Clora flora carbons which warm the atmosphere because they absorb some of the thermal radiation emitted from the earth’s surface, but are slow releasers of radiation. I could compare these molecules to the way fat cells want to hang on to the fats we eat. It takes longer to burn off the fat then say a piece of broccoli. And just like too much fat can change our body, an excess of the atmosphere warming molecules can change the atmosphere. The most abundant greenhouse gas is water vapor, which reaches the atmosphere through evaporation from oceans, lakes, and rivers. Water Vapor and Carbon Dioxide both act as a black blanket on the earth in that they absorb greenhouse radiation, but both of these gasses emit much less radiation out into space and so keep the atmosphere warmer than it would be if these gases were fewer. Water Vapor and Carbon Dioxide cause the surface temperature to rise and the increase in temperature leads to more evaporation of water causing further increase of temperature. I will describe the effects of both water vapor and carbon dioxide in the greenhouse effect.

This can sound benign, but hurricane formation is a byproduct of the greenhouse effect. And an example of what can happen during convection of warm air rising from a warm tropical ocean during a storm, making humid air, and begin to rotate in converging winds. It takes a lot of energy for a hurricane to be created. This creates violent seas, stirring up even more water in the form of vapor. This vapor adds to the rotating winds, as the winds increase and organize they create they form a center rotation point of low pressure and when it reaches 74mph it is a hurricane.

An example of how the intensified greenhouse effect impact can be demonstrated is by looking at the work of MIT climatologist Kerry Emanuel from Nature publication; published online 31 July 2005, he says that since the 1970’s major storms have increased in duration and intensity by about 50%. He suggests these trends are due to surface temperatures of the ocean and global atmospheric temperatures during the period of the storm. National Climatic Data Center recognized 2005 as the first time on record that the Atlantic spawned four named storms by mid-July, as well as the earliest category 4 storms on record. Hurricanes are ranked on intensity of 1- 5. Emanuel predicts that there will be hurricanes higher on the scale. Just so you know Katrina hit southern Florida and was only a category 1 storm and picked up its intensity when it moved west into the warm gulf waters which were 2 or 3 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. This was reported by the AP, 2005. As you can see the insulating ability of water is very powerful. This is the major hurricane gradient credit to National oceanic and atmospheric administration (NOAA)

Show major hurricane gradient.

The need for balance between the radiation taken in and emitted out of our atmosphere is intrinsic to continuation on life on this planet. Basically, if our atmosphere couldn’t release its thermal radiation we would have to learn how to live in an oven or on Venus. Actually, Venus is a great example of how the earth would be if this exchange of radiation couldn’t happen here. Venus has a temperature of around 977 degrees Fahrenheit, which is about twice as high as my GE oven will go. So Venus is like the green house affect on anabolic steroids, Venus has such a dense radiation blanket that only one or two percent of the sunlight can enter its atmosphere and even less thermal radiation can escape. This ‘runaway’ greenhouse effect on Venus leaves it very hot and in perpetual dusk, a Kevorkian summer retreat for those who want a tan from the inside out. And there is nothing growing there. The good news is there is no possibility of these conditions occurring on earth due to the solar energy falling on Venus is twice of what falls on the earth because Venus is closer to the sun. However, the major reason Venus emits so little thermal radiation is because it greenhouse gas carbon dioxide conducts the radiation, suffocating Venus. John Houghton’s’ book called Global Warming 2004.

How do we distinguish the healthy greenhouse effect from global warming?  Frances Drake Global Warming, 2000, defines it as a term used to describe the change in annual average global surface temperatures, and related climatic changes, due to increases in greenhouse gasses most notably carbon dioxide, from anthropogenic emissions.  

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), 2006 estimated that in 1750 there were about 281 molecules of carbon dioxide per million molecules of air (abbreviated as Parts per million, or ppm).  In 2006, the WMO reported that levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere had risen 377 ppm, an annual increase of 1.8 ppm.





When looking at the science and process of global warming John Houghton relies on the complete trend of weather pattern variation. Show global temperature scale, 1861-2003 He says, “Global Warming is the idea that greenhouse gases cause the climate of the earth to change globally”.

John Houghton pointed out that, since the 19th century the content of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere has inflated by 30% so far. Carbon dioxide is the leading factor of our trend of global warming; our excess of global warming gasses is like wrapping the earth in a black thermal blanket. As a result John Houghton says that, the average temperature of the earth has risen by an average of 1 Fahrenheit degree.

In our Sacramento valley concentrations of carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions as from heavy-duty diesel engines contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone, also known as “smog.” Smog is a contributor to global warming. The smog creates poor air. The Sacramento metropolitan air quality district, last updated 2005, informs us that Air quality in the Sacramento region does not meet the state and federal health-based standards for gro

Answer 5

A tornado cannot be caused by global warming, but the increase in the number and strength can be affected by global warming!  Each year now the number and strength has increased!  What is going on now is the tropical heat and moisture has been pushed northward,and is clashing with cold air from the arctic. It's the dramatic difference in temps that power the severe storms. The path that the "jet stream" takes over N.America has been changing,and that brings more storms to N. America. The ever widening parameters of weather records is a sign of rapid climate change.

Answer 6

Some people believe so most people do accusal so yes it most likely is but its not the tornado's them self its the higher amount of them

Answer 7

No - Tornadoes need cold air to form.  Tornadoes are a good indication that there is no global warming, but a good indicator that global cooling is taking place.

Hail is another good indication that the Earth is cooling, as hail requires cold air being close to the surface.

Answer 8

YES =ONLY FOR EXPANSION