In The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin (1859) wrote that: ‘there must be much fortuitous destruction, which can have little or no influence on the course of natural selection’. His reasoning was that some organisms could be ‘the best adapted to their conditions… [but]…destroyed by accidental causes,’ such that ‘natural selection will be powerless’ in these instances. Stochastic factors, such as extreme weather events, can cause fatalities to individuals otherwise well-adapted to their environment. Specific atmospheric conditions create weather patterns