Tornadoes could become stronger as time goes on, driven by global warming, according to a new study from Florida State University (FSU).
Climate change could be playing a pivotal role in increasing the frequency and strength of tornadoes forming in the United States, the study argues.
Tornadoes are being recorded on a smaller number of days each year, however, a greater number of the windstorms are forming more often in affected areas, on average. While the number of days each year with at least one tornado reported is declining, the number of days with more than one storm reported is rising.
This means that instead of a single funnel cloud forming when conditions are right, two or three of the features could now form. These tornadoes are also likely to be more powerful than similar windstorms seen in the past.
"We may be less threatened by tornadoes on a day-to-day basis, but when they do come, they come like there's no tomorrow," James Elsner, an expert on climate and weather trends at FSU, said.
Climatologists often overlook the effects of global climate change on tornadoes, since there is no clear trend in the number of events recorded each year. In 2011, there were 1,700 tornadoes that killed over 550 Americans. Two years later, tornadoes were seen on just 79 days of the year. So far in 2014, there have been 43 killed during the course of 189 of the storms.
Areas subject to frequent tornadoes do not appear to be growing in area, Elsner and his team found.
"I think it's important for forecasters and the public to know this. It's a matter of making sure the public is aware that if there is a higher risk of a storm, there may actually be multiple storms in a day," Elsner told the press.
The United States, in addition to having the highest average sustained winds in the world, is also home to the greatest number of tornadoes on Earth. These features can develop and move quickly, causing severe damage along their path of travel. New technology and improved climate science is making it possible to detect the storms earlier than ever before, yet they remain a danger throughout the nation.
In addition to the climate scientists, Thomas Jagger, an independent researcher formerly working with FSU and Svetoslava Elsner, a meteorologist, contributed to the study.
Study of how rising global temperatures could be affecting the severity and number of tornadoes was published in the journal Climate Dynamics.
