NatGeo: Storm chasing is an exhilarating rush. But is it worth the risk?

[Randy Jennings]

NatGeo published an article on 8/17/22 about storm chasing:

Storm chasing is an exhilarating rush. But is it worth the risk? (nationalgeographic.com)

 

[Mike Smith]

This is a really silly article for several reasons. The most obvious is that strong and violent tornadoes are less frequent than they were 50 years ago. The official NOAA figures are here: Violent Tornadoes Are LESS Frequent With a Warmer Climate

If you think about it, fewer violent tornadoes is the result one would expect with a warming climate. Classic global warming theory, which has been validated, says that the poles warm more quickly than the tropics. That creates a lesser temperature gradient across the hemispheres and, thus, a weaker jet stream. That = fewer opportunities for strong tornadoes.

This is synoptic meteorology 101 and it is surprising to me that some people keep trying to find reasons to say that the drop in major tornadoes is not real.

 

[Bill Hark]

Thanks for posting. Not bad considering the low quality of many of the articles on storm chasing.