

Two studies from 2007 point to a warmer future that could "bring the USA a dramatic increase in the frequency of weather conditions that feed severe thunderstorms and tornadoes by the end of the 21st century." The first, a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, says that the some locations will see twice as many days per year that favor severe thunderstorms.


A second study from the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York says that "the strongest severe storms and tornadoes are likely to happen more often and be stronger."


The problem, it seems, is that climate models simply aren't detailed enough to model features as small as tornadoes. Only in the past two years have global climate models attained a high enough resolution to simulate hurricanes, which are much larger.