Via POLITICO’s Morning Energy – May 21, 2013:
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif. – Chair of Senate Environment & Public Works Committee) took to the Senate floor and invoked the Oklahoma tornadoes in her speech on global warming.
“This is climate change. We were warned about extreme weather. Not just hot weather. But extreme weather. When I had my hearings, when I had the gavel years ago. -It’s been a while – the scientists all agreed that what we’d start to see was extreme weather. And people looked at one another and said ‘what do you mean? It’s gonna get hot?’ Yeah, it’s gonna get hot. But you’re also going to see snow in the summer in some places. You’re gonna have terrible storms. You’re going to have tornados and all the rest. We need to protect our people. That’s our number one obligation and we have to deal with this threat that is upon us and that is gonna get worse and worse though the years.”
[Boxer] also plugged her own bill, cosponsored with Sen. Bernie Sanders that would put a tax on carbon. “Carbon could cost us the planet,” she said. “The least we could do is put a little charge on it so people move to clean energy.”
And then there’s the shameful rant from US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse yesterday.
Here’s a germane question for these geniuses.
Tell us, what could any tax, law, edict, or protest have done to stop yesterday’s tornado outbreak? And what makes this one somehow different from the F5 Oklahoma city tornado of 1999 that also hit the city of Moore?
What made this somehow AGW enhanced or different from the F5 tornado that destroyed the Oklahoma city of Snyder in 1905, or the 1955 Great Plains tornado outbreak which produced an F5 striking Blackwell, Oklahoma, killing 20, with another F5 from the same storm striking Udall, KS, killing 80?
Tell us you Canutian meteorological geniuses, how could you have changed the outcome yesterday?
For those who live in the real world, reference these from NOAA:
US Strong to Violent Tornadoes (EF3-EF5) – 1950 to 2012;
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) – Click the pic to view at source
are below average. US Inflation Adjusted Annual Tornado Trend and Percentile Ranks;
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – Storm Prediction Center- Click the pic to view at source
are currently below average. US Tornadoes Daily Count and Running Annual Total;
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – Storm Prediction Center- Click the pic to view at source
….are currently well below average.
And when is the hottest part of the year in the USA? July and August of course. When is the peak tornado season? In the spring when it is cooler. Seasonal heat is not aligned with tornadic activity.
![tornadoes_bymonth[1]](http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/tornadoes_bymonth1.png?quality=75)
Andrew Revkin at NYT Dot Earth has a thoughtful essay on how city planning (or lack of it) likely contributed to this disaster. He closes with:
I’ll add a final thought about the persistent discussion of the role of greenhouse-driven climate change in violent weather in Tornado Alley.
It’s an important research question but, to me, has no bearing at all on the situation in the Midwest and South — whether there’s a tornado outbreak or drought. The forces putting people in harm’s way are demographic, economic, behavioral and architectural. Any influence of climate change on dangerous tornadoes (so far the data point to a moderating influence) is, at best, marginally relevant and, at worst, a distraction.
Read it here: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/21/a-survival-plan-for-americas-tornado-danger-zone/
UPDATE:
The IPCC says:
“There is low confidence in observed trends in small spatial-scale phenomena such as tornadoes” and on no knowledge on future development of tornadoes: “There is low confidence in projections of small-scale phenomena such as tornadoes because competing physical processes may affect future trends and because climate models do not simulate such phenomena.”
On pages 8 and 113, http://ipcc-wg2.gov/SREX/images/uploads/SREX-All_FINAL.pdf
(h/t to Bjorn Lomborg for IPCC link)
From the Daily Caller:
An often cited 1975 magazine article by long-time Newsweek science editor Peter Gwynne warned of tornadoes as a consequence of “global cooling,” along with other residual effects, including food shortages.
“There are ominous signs that the Earth’s weather patterns have begun to change dramatically and that these changes may portend a drastic decline in food production — with serious political implications for just about every nation on Earth,” Gwynne wrote. “The drop in food output could begin quite soon, perhaps only ten years from now.”
There was even a specific passage blaming the “global cooling” phenomenon for a 1974 tornado outbreak.
“Last April, in the most devastating outbreak of tornadoes ever recorded, 148 twisters killed more than 300 people and caused half a billion dollars’ worth of damage in thirteen states,” Gwynne wrote.
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I’m sure they asked everyone, right? I mean, they wouldn’t write it if they hadn’t, right? Or was it a lot of hyperbole?
Maybe Johnathan Cooke set up a poll on ye olde Intrenet asking if there was a consensus about anyone seeing anything like this before?
Looks like alarmism has always been alive and well.
When the President calls a special session of Congress, members of the Senate and House are notified by letter, e-mail, and phone. To get Barbara Boxer’s attention, the President stands on the White House lawn and yells SOOOOOOOOOOOOOEY.
Acting on CAGW as it has ben set up by UNFCCC(UNEP and WWF etc) who benefits and what is the benefit?
International Marxism ?
Let’s not overlook that other paragon of California’s intelligentsia, Congresswoman Capps; she fits right in with the two Senators and governor.
Boxer’s beyond “stunning ignorance.” She exhibits the full intellectual vacancy, dishonesty and cowardice — as well as the moral bankruptcy, social divisiveness, psychological bent and party-above-all-things — that the politicized “scientists,” full practitioners of “Cargo Cult Science,” have done, are doing and will do in their rejection of the scientific method and jettisoning of any apparent common sense.
They’re intellectual and moral behavior is vulgar and damaging — and, yes, a security threat to our country and the world.
Here in the Oakland/Berkeley Hills, we can’t afford to fix the roads any more, so we have to drive SUVs … or just fly wherever we need to go.
No really, no Sarc tag !!!
@philincalifornia
“we can’t afford to fix the roads”
That’s because of UN Agenda 21, among other things.
Being a Boxer can cause brain damage. She is the final proof.
http://www.science20.com/news_articles/even_amateur_boxing_can_cause_brain_damage-89512
RE: Randy says:
May 21, 2013 at 2:14 pm
That tri-state tornado of 1925 is a good one to study up on.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-State_Tornado
When Alarmists start to babble stuff about “worst ever,” it helps if you’ve done your homework, and can calmly hit them with some history.
RE: climatereason says:
May 21, 2013 at 10:53 am
Jeff Alberts made me chuckle, when he teased you about Alarmism being alive and well back in the year 1241, but I really appreciate you gathering that historical data. To me it sounds like a rough time to live through, as cooling set in after the Medieval Warm Period.
There does seem to be evidence we go through a time of what Joe Bastardi dubbed “climatic hardship” as weather cycles move from warm to cold. For example, as the heat of the Dust Bowl times gave way to the chill of the 1970’s, (when there was the alarm about an “ice age” returning,) there was a spike in the number of hurricanes up the east coast, and also in tornadoes.
Because the PDO has turned cold, and the AMO is likely to swing cold in the next 5-10 years, we “might” (hate that word) see a repeat of east coast hurricanes and F-5 tornadoes, in which case the political hyenas and vultures like Babbling Boxer will gather, drooling.
Hit ’em with the history.
Barbara Boxer’s ignorance is stunning? On what planet?
Wouldn’t it make more sense to build safety bunkers in tornado alley? Then people could stay safe regardless of the cause of the tornado? Otherwise people will bake themselves half to death in the summer and chill half to death in the winter because of a carbon tax and still find themselves wiped out by a tornado caused by Mother Nature all by herself.
I have no argument with the viewpoint that B Boxer is stupid, balanced perhaps by M Bachman from the other ‘side’.
But is there anyone here who can credibly claim that recent climate change, increased land and surface temps, increased humidity, changes in jet stream path etc had absolutely NO effect on the incidence and severity of tornados?
There seems to be some evidence that AGW has reduced incidence, but perhaps like hurricanes the fewer events are more severe?
The Mann says (http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/05/21/does-climate-change-impact-tornados): “As far as climate change is concerned, there will likely be a greater clashing of cold air masses from the north with even warmer, even more humid air masses coming off the Gulf of Mexico—conditions that are favorable for breeding destructive storms”
So Mann no longer thinks there will be polar amplification?
Newsweek science editor Peter Gwynne warned of tornadoes as a consequence of “global cooling,”
That sounds like the plot of “The Sixth Winter”.
izen says:
May 22, 2013 at 4:07 am
But is there anyone here who can credibly claim that recent climate change, increased land and surface temps, increased humidity, changes in jet stream path etc had absolutely NO effect on the incidence and severity of tornados?
There seems to be some evidence that AGW has reduced incidence, but perhaps like hurricanes the fewer events are more severe?
—————————–
Go do a study on it Izen. Stuff like ‘perhaps .. the fewer events are more severe’ is speculative crap. Perhaps they’re less severe. We can speculate all day long, it doesn’t go anywhere. Unless the goal is PR instead of science.
@- Mark Bofill
“Unless the goal is PR instead of science.”
Rejecting the obvious fact that there is clearly some type of teleconnection between climate and tornado magnitude and incidence is definitely PR instead of science.
There may well be some physical connection between climate, ie weather averaged over thirty years, and tornado frequency and strength. On shorter time frames, oceanic oscillations like ENSO, the PDO and AMO also may affect tornado characteristics. The human component in the effect of natural climatic cycles on tornado traits is however trivial.
Central Oklahoma and northern Texas remain the meanest corners of Tornado Alley. However, a spring tornado in 1917 traveled 5about 350 miles across Illinois and Indiana, lasting well over seven hours. Here are the ten deadliest tornado events in the United States (of course additional factors besides strength determine the fatality toll, but population has also grown a lot since 1840):
Date; Location; Deaths
March 18, 1925; Missouri, Illinois, Indiana; 689
May 6, 1840; Natchez, Mississippi; 317
May 27, 1896; St. Louis, Missouri; 255
April 5, 1936; Tupelo, Mississippi; 216
April 6, 1936; Gainesville, Georgia; 203
April 9, 1947; Woodward, Oklahoma; 181
April 24, 1908; Amite, Louisiana and Purvis, Mississippi; 143
June 12, 1899; New Richmond, Wisconsin; 117
June 8, 1953; Flint, Michigan; 115
May 11, 1953; Waco, Texas; 114
Clusters are apparent, suggesting cyclicality not apparent in frequency data, but that record is skewed by lack of reliability and full coverage in earlier decades. In any case, evidence of a human signal is also lacking, except of course from improved warning and possibly construction.
To izen:
Re-read the top of the post. Violent tornadoes have been lessening. As to
the cooling starting to breed more violent ones, I’m going to quote you right
back at yourself: “It takes more than {3,5,10,12,15,take your pick}
years to make a trend.”–izen, on many occasions.
Sadly Queen Barbara keeps being re-elected by the “majority” of my state. She will say anything to get her way much like many of her cohorts.
~Steph
All, please get the name of the Golden State correct, it’s not California, it is the People’s Republic of California.
The few conservative left in the state are indeed ashamed of our representation, but when you have people like Maxine Waters representing your district, getting them out is harder than getting water out of a rock. For over 20 years I have tried to vote her out – but, alas, I am the 1% not on the dole.
Izen, if you have a brain I’d suggest using it … it has been a cool spring in the plains all the way into Canada. The Gulf is below average in SST. Exactly where would global warming have influenced the storm systems? Or, maybe you meant the storms were less severe than they might have been otherwise.
It is not possible to “educate” our dear “Babs” Boxer. Been dumber than a fence post as long as I’ve known of her (I live out here and been subject to her profound level of stupid for decades…).
Like our other local dead wood heads, including our present Governor Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown, they have no connection to reality nor to data. They are driven 100% by appeals to emotion.and any B.S. that “sounds good” via being aligned with whatever is held to be “appropriate” by folks who set The Agenda of the far Looney Side Of Left. (As opposed to the more middle-of-the-road left…) Given a choice between thinking that absolute proof of something as natural was the cause of “Some Bad Thing” and making political hay out of embracing the most incredibly ignorant and physically impossible causalities, they will embrace “stupid but feels good” every time.
Which is truly odd, since “feels good” usually depends on an assertion of humanity as evil and feeling terrible about being a living human being…. and has a certain hostility toward life in general and a tendency to brooding depressive mind set. Then again, Those Folks don’t ever ever let logical consistency enter what passes for a brain…
But as long as they keep the abortion mills open, the drug laws loosely enforced, and the money flowing to the dependent class, while denigrating the people who make the society function and provide all the goods and services they all lap up to great excess (compared to their productivity); they will keep on getting elected… and that seems to be the only thing they know.
“California, the land of Fruits and Nuts!”… Same motto as during our agricultural past… but with a bit different “spin” now…
izen says:
May 22, 2013 at 8:21 am
“Rejecting the obvious fact that there is clearly some type of teleconnection between climate and tornado magnitude”
“Some type of teleconnection”, that’s good. I like that. Can we have that in the IPCC report? Maybe in the summary for policymakers? Please.
Boxer has no idea of what EXTREME weather really is:
A change of 16°C WITHIN A DECADE as the solar insolation nears the tipping point between glacial and interglacial conditions is what I define as EXTREME. A switch from glacial to interglacial within three years is what I define as EXTREME.
Our climate has been very stable and we should be thanking water vapor and CO2 for keeping it that way.
The real debate seems to be:
1. Is glacial inception “…a sharp threshold, which must be near 416 Wm2…” or at the “… weak summer insolation minimum (474Wm−2)…” with “… today’s value of 428 Wm2…” and “…the onset of significant bipolar-seesaw”
2. Even if the earth stays above the threshold for glacial inception how stable is the climate near that threshold?
LEAP = A late Eemian aridity pulse in central Europe during the last glacial inception.
A newer paper from last fall disagrees:
Since Warmist love models here is another paper using models. (rolls eyes)
With this as the real area of debate Warmists are complaining that the weather is warm???
@John from the EU –
I don’t think it is possible to educate ideologues who won’t listen to anything but their own Nazibabble. You can show them all the facts in the world and they will just ignore you.
Somehow, we need to get the word out to the lower-income people who are being screwed over the most by the policies advocated by nematodes like Boxer and Whitehouse and get them removed from office.