EXPLAINER: What causes a tornado? Scientists say figuring out how climate change is affecting the frequency of tornadoes is complicated and their understanding is still evolving.
Here’s a look at what’s known about Friday’s tornado outbreak and the role of climate change in such weather events.Tornadoes are whirling, vertical air columns that form from thunderstorms and stretch to the ground. They travel with ferocious speed and lay waste to everything in their path.
“When considerable variation in wind is found over the lowest few thousand feet of the atmosphere, tornado-producing ‘supercell thunderstorms’ are possible,” said Paul Markowski, professor of meteorology at Pennsylvania State University. “That’s what we had yesterday.” Spring-like temperatures across much of the Midwest and South in December helped bring the warm, moist air that helped form thunderstorms. Some of this is due to La Nina, which generally brings warmer than normal winter temperatures to the Southern U.S. But scientists also expect atypical, warm weather in the winter to become more common as the planet warms.
Tornadoes typically lose energy in a matter of minutes, but in this case it was hours, Gensini said. That’s partly the reason for the exceptionally long path of Friday’s storm, going more than 200 miles or so, he said. The record was 219 miles and was set by a tornado that struck four states in 1925. Gensini thinks this one will surpass it once meteorologists finish analyzing it.
Attributing a specific storm like Friday’s to the effects of climate change remains very challenging. Less than 10% of severe thunderstorms produce tornadoes, which makes drawing conclusions about climate change and the processes leading up to them tricky, said Harold Brooks, a tornado scientist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
Similar News:Vous pouvez également lire des articles d'actualité similaires à celui-ci que nous avons collectés auprès d'autres sources d'information.
The AP Interview: 'We want justice' on climate, Nakate says | AP NewsTheAPInterview: 'We cannot adapt to extinction, we cannot adapt to lost cultures, lost traditions, to lost histories, and the climate crisis is taking all of these things away,' activist Vanessa Nakate says.
Lire la suite »
The AP Interview: 'We want justice' on climate, Nakate says | AP NewsTheAPInterview: The world's next big climate conference will be in Africa, and Vanessa Nakate says the continent's activists like herself will need more than just 'sweet phrases' since 'pledges will not stop the suffering of people.'
Lire la suite »
AP Week in Pictures: Global | AP NewsDec. 4-10, 2021 From actor Jussie Smollett leaving the Leighton Criminal Courthouse with his siblings following his conviction on five of six charges that he staged an anti-gay, racist attack on himself nearly three years ago and then lied to Chicago police about it, to a man swimming in the ice cold water of the Bottomless Lake in Serebryany Bor, in Moscow, Russia, to a Ukrainian soldier taking a rest near a fighting position on the line of separation from pro-Russian rebels near Katerinivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine, this photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images from around the world made or published by The Associated Press.
Lire la suite »
Japan's Nintendo game console pioneer Uemura dies at 78 | AP NewsTOKYO (AP) — Masayuki Uemura, a Japanese home computer game pioneer whose Nintendo consoles sold millions of units worldwide, has died, according to the university in Kyoto where he taught. He was 78.
Lire la suite »
South African doctors see signs omicron is milder than delta | AP NewsJOHANNESBURG (AP) — As the omicron variant sweeps through South Africa, Dr. Unben Pillay is seeing dozens of sick patients a day. Yet he hasn’t had to send anyone to the hospital. That’s one of the reasons why he, along with other doctors and medical experts, suspect that the omicron version really is causing milder COVID-19 than delta, even if it seems to be spreading faster.
Lire la suite »
Indian farmers end yearlong protests and return home | AP NewsNEW DELHI (AP) — Tens of thousands of jubilant Indian farmers on Saturday cleared protest sites on the capital’s outskirts and began returning home, marking an end to their year-long demonstrations against agricultural reforms that were repealed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government in a rare retreat.
Lire la suite »