Thomas Loades
Perhaps you don't come across many — or perhaps none; but I'm finding it frustrating that more and more weather reference books on the market are using fake images of tornadoes. It bothers me more because I find tornado to be a thing of beauty, and the fake ones frequently look . . . well, ugly. I also find that they are being used more and more often in juvenile-oriented educational books: just a quick browse through the "Tornadoes" section of amazon.com shows you that —
![ca3154163ed20e02fb37b7a3ac24132d.jpg ca3154163ed20e02fb37b7a3ac24132d.jpg](https://stormtrack.org/data/attachments/0/311-6f229e08ad220f08774bec1aa3e3648d.jpg)
![c33170f4abbee2e5272d0493dc35329a.jpg c33170f4abbee2e5272d0493dc35329a.jpg](https://stormtrack.org/data/attachments/0/312-af42a1d126e7ea8f71a7f62d813c6528.jpg)
![c86ec6d4b74126f49ec56c798cc3f66b.jpg c86ec6d4b74126f49ec56c798cc3f66b.jpg](https://stormtrack.org/data/attachments/0/313-af85005063edeebb8665f802b26f49b9.jpg)
![7def21240a2c44afddb74b29820b5d7d.jpg 7def21240a2c44afddb74b29820b5d7d.jpg](https://stormtrack.org/data/attachments/0/314-2242af7ac4ea80a2cf3e65e0b306ec71.jpg)
I think that's the worst facet of the use of these fakes; they're used in books that are supposed to be teaching kids about tornadoes for perhaps the first time, yet through unrealistic imagery. (Look close on the second cover, and you'll notice that the "tornado" has a house in its "vortex"!) By showing tornadoes against blue skies or non-threatening thunderstorms, they can conversely decrease a child's perceptions of tornado risk ("Yeah, right, like a tornado would happen when the sun's shining! What've I got to worry about?") or increase them ("Uh-oh, a storm — there's gonna be a tornado! YAHHHHHHHH!!!") — or, at any rate, alter them. And if the spectacular side of tornadoes is (attemptedly) emphasized, this could increse a child's desire to see a tornado at an unsafe distance — i.e. REALLY close, and when they should be in the cellar. If they don't read the book and so read the part that tells them they should go to the cellar, and just flip through all the pictures, there may be a bad trend coming along.
TO our trained eyes, we know a fake when we see one. But to those eyes untrained, I think that's where the problem lies. The fakes aren't just in kids' books — not where I've seem them all — so the whole "unrealistic spectacle" could be a problem for uneducated adults with camcorders too.
![ca3154163ed20e02fb37b7a3ac24132d.jpg ca3154163ed20e02fb37b7a3ac24132d.jpg](https://stormtrack.org/data/attachments/0/311-6f229e08ad220f08774bec1aa3e3648d.jpg)
![c33170f4abbee2e5272d0493dc35329a.jpg c33170f4abbee2e5272d0493dc35329a.jpg](https://stormtrack.org/data/attachments/0/312-af42a1d126e7ea8f71a7f62d813c6528.jpg)
![c86ec6d4b74126f49ec56c798cc3f66b.jpg c86ec6d4b74126f49ec56c798cc3f66b.jpg](https://stormtrack.org/data/attachments/0/313-af85005063edeebb8665f802b26f49b9.jpg)
![7def21240a2c44afddb74b29820b5d7d.jpg 7def21240a2c44afddb74b29820b5d7d.jpg](https://stormtrack.org/data/attachments/0/314-2242af7ac4ea80a2cf3e65e0b306ec71.jpg)
I think that's the worst facet of the use of these fakes; they're used in books that are supposed to be teaching kids about tornadoes for perhaps the first time, yet through unrealistic imagery. (Look close on the second cover, and you'll notice that the "tornado" has a house in its "vortex"!) By showing tornadoes against blue skies or non-threatening thunderstorms, they can conversely decrease a child's perceptions of tornado risk ("Yeah, right, like a tornado would happen when the sun's shining! What've I got to worry about?") or increase them ("Uh-oh, a storm — there's gonna be a tornado! YAHHHHHHHH!!!") — or, at any rate, alter them. And if the spectacular side of tornadoes is (attemptedly) emphasized, this could increse a child's desire to see a tornado at an unsafe distance — i.e. REALLY close, and when they should be in the cellar. If they don't read the book and so read the part that tells them they should go to the cellar, and just flip through all the pictures, there may be a bad trend coming along.
TO our trained eyes, we know a fake when we see one. But to those eyes untrained, I think that's where the problem lies. The fakes aren't just in kids' books — not where I've seem them all — so the whole "unrealistic spectacle" could be a problem for uneducated adults with camcorders too.