Tornadoes and climate change

The deadly Mississippi Valley outbreak of tornadoes Dec. 10 and 11 is part of a “new normal” driven by climate change, according to Deanne Criswell, chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. With more than 80 people killed and property damage estimated at $18 billion from the 30-tornado, 250-mile wide storm, Criswell’s assessment is especially troubling.

Of course those committed to denying climate science will say that there is no way to know whether this outbreak was the direct result of climate change. After all, there have been many intense and destructive storms in the past. The same, they say, is true of the extreme wildfires witnessed over the last several years. There is no way to say for sure that any particular fire was the direct result of climate change.

Therefore, they conclude, these disasters cannot be counted as evidence that human activity is disrupting earth’s climate. But this is where their argument fails.

Take the case of Major League Baseball’s steroid era. It was generally accepted that there was no way to know if a particular home run was the result of steroid use, even though an overall rise in home runs was certainly the result of players using these drugs. In other words, the fact that no specific home run could be linked to steroids in no way negated the fact that steroids markedly increased the number of home runs hit.

Similarly, even though there is no way to link, with certainty, last week’s specific tornado outbreak to climate change, that doesn’t negate the fact that a long-predicted increase in these catastrophic events is upon us, or that our pumping 150 million tons of heat-trapping gases into our atmosphere daily is the cause.

The science is clear. We can expect to see not only more frequent and powerful tornadoes, but more intense hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and droughts as well. And given our failure to reduce our use of carbon-based fuels, we can expect these trends to severely worsen over time.

But here’s the good news. It’s not too late to take action to avert the worst impacts unchecked climate change will bring. What action? Here’s a short list:

Tell your representatives in Washington to quickly phase out all subsidies for carbon-based fuel production, and to instead invest those tax dollars in the rapid refinement of non-carbon-based energy technologies like wind and solar and more efficient energy storage capacity. Also, withhold approval of all new CO2-related projects like off-shore and Arctic drilling and new infrastructure like pipelines and refineries. Tell them if they fail to take these bold actions to protect the future of our children and grandchildren, you will vote them out of office. And then, if necessary, do just that.

In the end, overcoming the stranglehold Big Oil has on elections and legislation will not be easy. It will take everyone who cares about the future of life on our planet to stand up and demand change. Everyone.

Jonas Magram is a longtime climate activist, businessman, community volunteer and musician. He lives in Fairfield.