A Purdue University led study determined that the number of days favorable for severe thunderstorms could more than double in some parts of the United States by the end of the century because of global warming.

The research team used climate models to examine future weather conditions favorable to the formation of severe thunderstorms, according to the ScienceDaily article.

"Areas close to the main sources of humidity, primarily the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic, show the most significant increases in potential for storms," said Robert Trapp, the Purdue associate professor of earth and atmospheric sciences who led the research team.

"We know from the past that extremes in weather and individual severe storms can be devastating. This study makes a strong statement that a few degrees of global warming could make these severe events much more common than they are today," said Noah Diffenbaugh from Purdue's Climate Change Research Center.

Individual storms were not examined in this study because they are too small for the current climate models to analyze, and also a trigger is needed to initiate a storm, according to team member Harold Brooks from the Severe Storms Laboratory.

Research suggested global warming would lead to an increase in humid air that fuels severe thunderstorms, however, it also suggested global warming would reduce strong winds that contribute to the storms. "The result was a general increase in days more favorable to storm creation. It appears that the increase in warm, humid air near the surface outweighs the reduction in strong winds higher in the atmosphere," said Diffenbaugh.

The results of the study also showed a strong seasonal and regional variation in the effects of climate change, which should not be a surprise.