As quoted in a recent story, a climatologist attributed extraordinarily violent tornadoes in the Midwest and South to cool air in the North and warmer-than-ordinary air in the Gulf. The frequency of the phenomenon is increasing -- and generally accepted as a result of global warming.
But that was not reflected in the pronouncements of the presidential hopefuls. It is known that many do not believe it.
I think it would be helpful to quickly summarize what we are up against. Our planet was born 4 billion years ago as a fiery ball. It took some time for it to cool. When it was cool enough for the oxygen and hydrogen to combine, it formed water. It rained for millions of years, creating Earth's oceans and lakes. With the sun's energy, Earth produced plants and animals, including giant dinosaurs.
Then, scientists say, something unexpected happened. Two billion years ago, a piece of space debris hit the Earth where now the Gulf of Mexico is, creating dust that obscured the sun, lasting long enough for the dinosaurs to become extinct.
Earth settled on an easy equilibrium supported by the energy of the sun, until a few millions years ago when humanlike creatures appeared in Africa.
For millions of years humanity relied on the energy of the sun for its existence, in the form of agriculture. But eventually, the sun's energy was not enough.
Eureka! Coal, petroleum and gas came to the rescue as an additional source of energy. With one caveat: its burning produced carbon dioxide, which is difficult to clean from the atmosphere, thus increasing the average temperature of the planet with unexpected consequences. There is, in a nutshell, "global warming."
I wonder what our candidates for president think about that.