A severe storm system spawned at least 44 tornadoes across seven southern states over the weekend, resulting in four confirmed deaths in Texas, Mississippi, and North Carolina.
The National Weather Service confirmed potential EF3 tornadoes in Texas — one in Porter Heights with winds of at least 136 mph, while another powerful twister struck along Highway 124 in Chambers County. The EF scale ranges from 0 to 5, with 5 being the strongest.
These tornadoes should highlight climate change's effects on wind-based extreme weather. The warming atmosphere has led to more unstable low-level air, which can cause more thunderstorms and more powerful twisters. We shouldn't blame every tornado on climate change, but we should acknowledge its role.
It's difficult to link tornadoes to climate change due to a lack of evidence and limited tornado data reaching back just three decades. Therefore, scientists can't say whether there has been a significant change in tornado patterns. At least on the tornado issue, more research is needed without jumping to the climate change connection.
Tornadoes are unavoidable natural disasters whose damage can only be stymied through reinforced infrastructure in tornado-prone areas and early tornado detection. Policies to boost disaster preparedness are crucial to limiting damage once calamity strikes.