After Astounding 2005 Season, Hurricane Researchers Speak Up On Warming

[hatrack]

EDIT

Curry said leading scientists with published research have compelling evidence that human-induced global warming is heating the seas from which hurricanes draw their strength. In the North Atlantic -- as the Atlanic north of the equator is called -- that has increased both the number and intensity of hurricanes in the last decade, she said. "They are stunning increases that are way outside the bounds of natural variability," she said.

Tropical ocean temperatures have risen about 1 degree Fahrenheit since 1970, said Curry. "This 1 degree is playing havoc with hurricanes. It's a lot of extra energy for these storms." When Wilma's internal pressure hit 882 millibars, beating a record held by 1988's Gilbert, climatologists took notice. It was the first time a single season had produced four Category 5 hurricanes, the highest stage on the 5-step Saffir-Simpson scale of storm intensity. The 28 tropical storms and hurricanes crushed the old mark of 21, set in 1933.

While some hurricane researchers accept that the sea is warming, they believe it's part of a natural cycle, rather than human-caused. They say the Atlantic entered a period of heightened hurricane activity around 1995 and may not settle down for another 20 or 30 years due to a cycle called the "Atlantic multidecadal oscillation."

With hurricane records for only 150 years, some say there isn't enough historical data to blame the greenhouse effect. "We don't have any facts because we don't have any long-term records," said Neil Frank, a former director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center. The debate has taken center-stage among hurricane and climate scientists in the United States, where President George W. Bush's rejection of the Kyoto agreement to cut greenhouse gases enraged environmental groups and foreign nations.

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http://today.reuters.co.uk/News/NewsArticle.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2006-05-02T123601Z_01_N28227056_RTRIDST_0_SCIENCE-WEATHER-HURRICANES-WARMING-DC.XML

[DS1]

1. If New Orleans takes two hits in a row, can we then finally agree to move

it to higher ground?

[dipsydoodle]

2. Notwithstanding the fact

that the temperature increase may be part of a natural cycle when you're up to your neck in shit the last thing you want is a wave. Regard global warming as being that wave.

[phantom power]

3. Here in America, we simply don't "do" the Precautionary Principle.

How gauche.

[dipsydoodle]

4. It's not just the USA.

Everyone has contributed and so all are responsible.

[Macadian]

5. WE DIDN'T LISTEN!!!!

WE DIDN'T LISTEN!!!!