Relationship between Global Warming and Thunderstorms?

Question

I have heard on the news that Thunderstorms and other severe storms in general have been greatly strengthed both in power and quantity due to global warming. Could someone please explain this phenomenon in more detail? Thanks

Answer 1

There are two things known about strong storms and hurricanes and global warming.

The heat adds energy to these storms causing them to be larger and more intense, it also causes wind shear which makes the storms smaller and minimal.

So when it comes to global warming, the storms will be larger and stronger unless they're smaller and weaker.  Either way, global warming is to blame.

Answer 2

A thunderstorm is a relatively brief and isolated weather event.  The cause has nothing to do with 'global warming'.  G/w isn't real anyhow.

Answer 3

Thunderstorms are powered by warm moist air.  As the warm moist air gets convected aloft, the water vapor condenses.  The condensing water releases heat, driving convection, driving further condensation.  This causes severe turbulence, heavy rainfall, hail (in cases where condensation is followed by the liquid water advecting aloft and freezing), lightning, and tornadoes.  

The idea that global warming is affecting thunderstorm intensity is linked to the fact that warmer air can sustain a higher specific humidity.  In other words, as air temperature rises, there can be more water vapor in it (it's related to the vapor pressure of water increasing with temperature).  If a warm air mass passes over warm water (where water temperatures are also increasing due to global warming), the air will pick up a lot of moisture.  If the warmer moister air gets into a pattern where it starts to convect, the resulting thunderstorms will be larger than what would have occurred had the air and water not been warmed by global warming.

That's the theory anyway and statistically and physically it is true.  Whether the intensity of any particular storm can be tied directly to climate change is a different issue, and not really possible to state conclusively.

Sorry for the long-winded answer.

Answer 4

There is no relationship.  You do realize that the media has now been linking terrorism to global warming?

In actuality, storms start when a cold front overtakes a warm front.  Cold fronts come primarily from the north--if there's nothing but warm fronts, where are all your storms? (Or something like that--I'm not a meteorologist, after all).

Either way, global warming won't produce more storms.

El Nino, or La Nina, on the other hand...

Answer 5

Just remember the saying...  What goes up MUST come down...

With global warming the ocean temperatures have risen a measurable amount.  Any increase in ocean temperatures will cause greater evaporation of ocean waters....  The increased moisture in the atmosphere will condense and the rainfall will be greater than normal.  Said another way, greater amounts of warmer air with greater content of moisture will develop greater storms.

The bottom line-----  look for greater river floods throughout the Mississippi river area simply because there is now more moisture in the atmosphere that will be brought down.

Answer 6

This is a common claim of the media unsupported by the scientific community....but it sure makes good headlines.