Among many other disasters, a warmer climate will move the start of tornado season earlier and earlier every year, meaning that North America will see more powerful Winter and early Spring storms like the ones that hit the midwest this March and April.
Climate activists in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area of Texas took this powerful photo in the aftermath of an early tornado in Lancaster, Texas. To join them and thousands of others connecting the dots between climate change and extreme weather, visit ClimateDots.org.
“On Tuesday, April 3, several tornadoes swept through the Dallas/ Ft. Worth area. The damage left behind was pretty bad, with some people’s houses being completely destroyed. Fortunately, there have been no reports of deaths so far. I was at school during the storm, and everyone had to take refuge in bathrooms or other tornado-safe locations for about two hours, from 2-4 PM. While we waited for the storm to pass, my friends and I checked our phones for weather updates, hoping that a tornado wouldn’t touch down near our school or homes. Most of us lucked out.
One of my friends was not so fortunate. Her home in Lancaster, Texas, was trashed by the tornado mayhem. At least her family survived the tornado unharmed, thank God.
On Saturday, April 7, my friends and I went out to document the damage in Lancaster, as well as to draw the connection between climate change and extreme weather events. When we got to the disaster site, we were stunned to see that some houses had been obliterated, while others were left unscathed. The pictures we took are representative of what a future with unabated climate change could look like. Of course, my friends and I are aware that the tornado outbreak was not directly caused by climate change, but was almost surely in some way affected by it. We hope these pictures elicit not only relief efforts, but action for the environment, as well.”
–Ivan K.