Yes, Baal was the weather and storm god that had to be appeased by sacrifices, usually under the oaks. Baal becomes Thor in Norse mythology. The author of the article has a book (Nazi Oaks) in which there is a whole discussion about Baalism and how it was an early form of what we would call environmentalism BC.
Yes, Baal was the weather and storm god that had to be appeased by sacrifices,