MSNBC: "Global warming cause of intense hurricanes?"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

Global warming cause of intense hurricanes?
Ocean temperature could be the factor behind the record season

By Robert Bazell
Correspondent
NBC News
Updated: 7:49 p.m. ET Sept. 21, 2005

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9429241/



NEW YORK - In recorded history, two storms as powerful as Hurricanes Rita and Katrina have never hit the United States in one season. A coincidence, perhaps, but scientists say ocean temperature could be big factor.

“If you think of a hurricane like a car,” explains NASA’s Dr. David Adamec, “there are a lot of parts that keep it going, but the sea surface temperature and the heat that is provided by the ocean, that is the gasoline that fuels it.”

In the Gulf of Mexico, there is a lot of fuel right now. To measure sea temperature, researchers use buoys that transmit readings directly, as well as remote sensing satellites. Those readings have found record temperatures in the gulf and Atlantic Ocean this year.

“The sun was having an easy time reaching the sea surface and just warmed up the water,” says Adamec, “and just made it ripe for a lot of strong intense hurricanes this year.” The big question is will the trend continue in future years?

[Big Kahuna]

1. Blasphemy!

Hurricanes are Satan's Brillo-Pads.

Rejoice!

[despairing optimist]

2. Don't know about the rest of the US, but NYC still has 85 degrees

forecast for the first day of autumn. This is the warmest September ever recorded here, and the highs have been at least 80 every day of the month so far. Even after the hottest summers with seven-week-long heat waves, things cool off after September 15 at the latest.

Global warming doesn't necessarily mean we'll have warmer winters, just more erratic ones. We could even have the coldest winter on record, though with the impending shortages in heating oil and natural gas that would be disastrous for everyone up north. Cold showers are nasty in mid-winter--been there done that with a landlord who decided to change boilers during a cold November. Not looking forward to cold showers on a regular basis.

[marmar]

3. Same here in Detroit...

86 degree high today (the normal is in the low 70s this time of year) after a summer in which we've had triple the number of 90 degree+ days that we'd normally have.

[hedda_foil]

5. Same in Chicago.

God help us come heating season. We're not just talking about high prices, we're talking about huge shortages. There won't be enough fuel ... oil, gas or anything else ... to go around.

We've lost the Port of New Orleans. The backup port is in Texas, and I assume it will be devastated by Rita. god help us all.

[FloridaPat]

4. If we have a very cold winter and severe fuel shortage, we could all

be moving to Mexico this year.

I wonder if it would get so bad as to have hurricane season all year. What a thought!