“It’s poetic, the notion that the flap of a butterfly’s wing in Brazil can set off a cascade of atmospheric events that, weeks later, spurs the formation of a tornado in Texas.
“This so-called “butterfly effect” is used to explain why chaotic systems like the weather can’t be predicted more than a few days in advance.
“One can’t know every little factor affecting the atmosphere — every flutter of every butterfly in Brazil — so there’s little hope of foreseeing the exact time and place a storm will touch down weeks later.
“The butterfly effect is all the more pleasing because the computer model that led to its discovery resembles a butterfly.”
Read more at Live Science
