As the father of a Cub Scout, the news of the four people killed by the tornado at the Boy Scout camp in Iowa is particularly frightening. It’s not like you sit in the cabins and watch the Weather Channel, right? And some of the kids were out hiking; just no escape. Terrifying.

This year may set a record for both tornados and tornado-related deaths. At the same time, you’ve got record flooding in the Midwest; the number of extreme weather incidents this year has been stunning.

At some point, you’ve got to ask why - is there a common thread in all of this? And you don’t want to put on the tinfoil hat, but you wonder: Could we, in fact, be seeing effects of climate change?

Some people think this is exactly what’s happening.

Ostro pointed to this year’s unusually violent January and February skies as evidence that human forcing may be playing a role in addition to natural variability. In total, eighty-four tornadoes were recorded in January (although this number has not yet undergone final review by NOAA), which far exceeded the three-year average of 34, and 148 struck in February, which was well above the three-year average of 25. These two winter months also were above normal when compared to the longer-term averages as well.

Add to that recent trends in fall severe weather outbreaks and Ostro says there may be a human hand in the overall patterns, although global warming cannot be pinpointed as the cause of an individual severe weather outbreak or specific tornado, just as it can’t be blamed for causing a particular hurricane. However, overall trends in such storms can be evaluated for their links to climate change.

There are going to be others who scoff at this; severe weather has obviously always been part of the American landscape.

But if in fact this were the case - are you confident that your government would tell you, the general public, what was happening? Or would they be too concerned about a breakdown in public order?

As the WaPo piece notes, it is too early too draw conclusions - but the questions need to be asked, and in a very public fashion. All of this may be an anomoly - or it could be the beginning of a deadly trend.