NOAA: 'CSI' team investigates April tornadoes: Climate scientists looking for clues

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.climatewatch.noaa.gov/article/2011/noaas-csi-team-investigates-tornado-outbreak

NOAA’s CSI Team Investigates Tornado Outbreak

By Rebecca Lindsey

May 6, 2011

The tornado outbreak across the southern United States in late April 2011 was deadly, devastating, and record breaking. These days, when the weather breaks records, it’s natural to wonder if http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/GlobalWarming/">global warming is to blame. So it’s not surprising that in recent weeks, climate scientists have been fielding lots of questions about the possible connection between global warming and tornadoes.

Wondering and questioning are the foundation of science, but they are only the beginning. At NOAA, the http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/csi/team/">Climate Attribution Rapid Response Team (aka the “CSI” team, for “Climate Scene Investigations”), led by Martin Hoerling of the Earth System Research Laboratory, tries to move the process forward from questions to answers. Last week, the team turned their focus to tornadoes.

…

In their http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/csi/events/2011/tornadoes/climatechange.html">preliminary report on the analysis, the NOAA CSI team writes, “A change in the mean climate properties that are believed to be particularly relevant to severe storms has thus not been detected for April, at least during the last 30 years.”

That preliminary assessment, however, isn’t the same as saying “Climate change has had no impact on tornado outbreaks.”

…

[guardian]

1. "it’s natural to wonder if global warming is to blame"

Only by those who see the omnipresent hand of AGW in EVERYTHING!

Situation: The ice cream melted
Normal person reaction: Dang! I forgot to put it back in the freezer.
Doomer reaction: Clear evidence of global warming. Anyone who says differently is a mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging, denier.

[truebrit71]

2. So you think that GW isn't real?

I just want to make sure I understand you clearly...

Because, you know, your metaphor is so accurate..melting ice cream = highly complex meteorological system..

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

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[OKIsItJustMe]

5. I take it you didn’t actually read the post…

It does not say that April’s tornadoes were caused by “Global Warming.”

The article is rather interesting in my opinion.

[guardian]

6. Of course not.

I just magically divined a direct quote from the article as the subject heading of my reply. Would like some winning lottery numbers now?

[GliderGuider]

7. There's no discernible evidence for a long-term increase

At least not for the factors believed to be related to tornado formation in the Lower Mississippi Valley: