Earth Equity News

Tornadoes Are 'On a Record Pace'. By Nicholas Riccardi, LATimes, May 13, 2008. "The tornadoes that ripped through the Midwest and South over the weekend killed about two dozen people... making 2008 the deadliest year so far for twisters in a decade. According to the National Weather Service, 96 people have lost their lives in a year that has seen an unusual number of storms. In 1998, 115 had perished by May 11. 'It's certainly one of the biggest years we've had,' said Harold Brooks... [of] the National Severe Storms Laboratory... What is unusual about this year is the large number of storms in January and February -- clustered in places that are normally too far north for winter twisters, such as Illinois and Wisconsin, said Greg Forbes, a severe-weather expert at the Weather Channel... 'What we're seeing over the last 10 years is more wintertime events and [storms] creeping north,' [he] said. 'Whether that's global warming or not, you can only speculate.'"