Over the Memorial Day holiday weekend in the U.S., at least 23 people died after extremely powerful, tornado-filled thunderstorms swept through multiple states. And it wasn't an isolated incident. Just days before, tornadoes had already raced through areas of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kentucky, leaving devastation and death in their wake.
What causes tornadoes?
Atmospheric temperature instability. What makes them worse?
Warmer summers. That's why scientists are determining that
climate change – with its direct connection to warmer, more unstable weather – is causing changes in tornado season. And this is dangerous for everyone.
Individual states can't fight climate change on their own, but they can help. That's why we're urging the governments of Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Arkansas, and Kentucky to implement policies to fight climate change and commit to sustainable energy, now!Tornadoes form at key moments when warm, humid air sitting close to the earth's surface rises up to meet the cooler, drier air above, all at the precise moment when winds change direction and speed.
Summers are a prime time for tornadoes - with the supercell storms getting worse as summers get warmer. And this summer season is only just beginning.
The main climate change-related pattern that scientists are observing is that, as overall temperatures rise in the summers, tornadoes are appearing at different times and locations in the past – and the number of tornadoes appearing in a given cluster is increasing. In the past, tornado outbreaks didn't necessarily include huge collections of tornadoes within one storm system. Now, that's becoming the norm.
The way tornado patterns are shifting and intensifying is deadly and hard to predict.
We need to make sure this cycle doesn't escalate in the future – and the best way to do that is to fight off global warming. Leaders around the world and federally in the U.S. need to take action, but so do individual states that have otherwise
been resistant to addressing climate change. The governments in Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Arkansas, and Kentucky have been loath to take this atmospheric catastrophe seriously – and people are dying as a result.
Governments must take care of their people, and that includes by preventing worsening climate change. Demand that the leaders in Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Arkansas, and Kentucky invest in green energy and carbon sequestration technology now! Sign the petition!