Twisted logic: What tornadoes don’t have to do with global warming

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And it just keeps coming

(CNN) -- Severe weather rampaged across the U.S. heartland, claiming at least 10 lives across Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma, in what has already become a historic spring storm season.

Deadly tornadoes churn across Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas

It's La Nina, they say. We can't blame Global Warming, they say. Why? Because our models aren't good enough. We don't know enough to pin this on climate change. But sheesh, let's use some common sense here! This is climate change, happening before our eyes.

Bill McKibben says it well:

Caution: It is vitally important not to make connections. When you see pictures of rubble like this week’s shots from Joplin, Mo., you should not wonder: Is this somehow related to the tornado outbreak three weeks ago in Tuscaloosa, Ala., or the enormous outbreak a couple of weeks before that (which, together, comprised the most active April for tornadoes in U.S. history). No, that doesn’t mean a thing.

It is far better to think of these as isolated, unpredictable, discrete events. It is not advisable to try to connect them in your mind with, say, the fires burning across Texas — fires that have burned more of America at this point this year than any wildfires have in previous years. Texas, and adjoining parts of Oklahoma and New Mexico, are drier than they’ve ever been — the drought is worse than that of the Dust Bowl. But do not wonder if they’re somehow connected.

A link between climate change and Joplin tornadoes? Never!
By Bill McKibben, Published: May 23


HT Climate Progress