How does rising atmospheric CO2 affect marine organisms?

Click to locate material archived on our website by topic


United States Thunderstorm Activity
Reference
Changnon, S.A.  2003.  Geographical and temporal variations in thunderstorms in the contiguous United States during the 20th century.  Physical Geography 24: 138-152.

What was done
The author utilized a newly available extensive data set on thunderstorm days covering the period 1896-1995 - which is available from the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina - to assess long-term temporal variations in thunderstorm activity at 110 first-order weather reporting stations scattered across the United States.

What was learned
Dividing the data into five 20-year segments, Changnon found that "the 1936-1955 period was the nation's peak of storm activity during the 100-year period ending in 1995."  During this central 20-year period, 40% of the 110 first-order weather stations experienced their greatest level of storm activity, whereas during the final 20-year period from 1976-1995, only 15% of the stations experienced their greatest level of storm activity.

What it means
During most of the last two decades of the 20th century, when climate alarmists claim the earth experienced a warming that propelled the planet to the highest mean global air temperature it had experienced in approximately 2000 years, there was only three-eighths as much thunderstorm activity as there was during the middle of the century.  Consequently, since climate alarmists claim that global warming will lead to more frequent and intense storms of nearly all types, this real-world finding presents a significant problem for them, as it totally contradicts this assertion as it applies to thunderstorms in the United States.

Reviewed 9 March 2005