Sen. Bernie Sanders has decided to blame Sunday’s deadly tornado in Alabama on climate change — saying, “The science is clear.”
“Climate change is making extreme weather events, including tornadoes, worse,” claimed the Vermont independent in a Facebook post on Monday, which linked to an EcoWatch article about the Lee County twister.
“We must prepare for the impacts of climate change that we know are coming,” Sanders said. “The full resources of the federal government must be provided to these families. Our thoughts are with the people of Alabama and their families.”
Sunday’s tornado left at least 23 people dead — including three children — and countless more missing amid the “catastrophic” damage, according to officials.
EcoWatch cited a climate researcher in its coverage who told local reporters that it wouldn’t be a “big jump” to say that climate change was causing recent, extreme shifts in weather patterns — including the movement of the nation’s so-called “tornado alley” further east.
“The hypothesis and computer simulations support what we are observing and what we expect in the future,” explained Dr. Victor Gensini, of Northern Illinois University.
Social media users were quick to blast Sanders on his Facebook post, though many agreed with him.
“Are you seriously using this as a sign of climate change?!” wrote one person.
“I’m a big Bernie fan but the truth is last year was the mildest tornado year in US history,” another said.
“And that somehow nullifies the fact Tornado Alley is shifting East, into more heavily populated areas, thereby making the damage more severe?” a user fired back.
Matthew Spike replied, “It is such a stretch to use one tornado in Alabama’s tornado season that moved through mobile homes as an example of climate change. This is what gives the argument for climate change a bad name, using daily weather as examples.”




