Human-Induced Hurricanes?
ScienceNOW reports on an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this month that shows human-induced global warming is indeed responsible for increased severity of hurricanes. Greenhouse gas emissions have led to warmer ocean temperatures, and these warm waters fuel the power of hurricanes.
Based on their models of temperature incorporating both human-induced and natural change, these scientists found (with 84% certainty) that two-thirds of temperature changes have been caused by human activities.The surface temperature of the Atlantic has increased in temperature, and this increase is correlated with an increase in the number of severe (category 4 and 5) hurricanes. Not only will hurricanes increase in frequency and severity as temperatures warm, but also increased coastal development in areas of the Southeast will lead to more damage to properties and homes.
posted by Laura Petes @ 1:09 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
So, in light of the fact that we've had only one major tropical event (Ernesto), does that mean that global warming went away?
Whew! Thank goodness that catastrophe is over...
Really, you should have waited until we actually are, you know, having hurricanes before you post such nonsense. Then, it may have actually meant something.
Instead, you picked the worst possible time to post this. That's funny to me.
The timing of this posting has to do with the recent release of the posted article in a scientific journal. The time-scale of human-induced impacts on global warming (and its effects on hurricanes) is much longer than one year. The published study incorporated climate data from the past 100 years of human impact. This article is relevant and timely, given that as an overall trend from the past century, hurricanes have increased in frequency and severity.
You got any data to prove that? Or are you just making things up? Until the last two years (not including this year, of course) we've had mostly mild tropical seasons.
Yes, there are abundant data in the scientific literature. If you refer to any of these journal articles, you will find abundant global climatic data:
1. Santer et al. 2006. Forced and unforced ocean temperature changes in Atlantic and Pacific tropical cyclogenesis regions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103: 13905-13910.
2. Emanuel, K.A. 1987 Nature 326: 483-485.
3. Holland, G.J. 1997. Journal of Atmospheric Science 54: 2519-2541.
4. Raper, S.C.B. 1993. in Climate and Sea Level Chagne: Observations, Projections and Implications, eds. Warrick RA, Barrow EM, Wigley TML. pp. 192-212.
5. Emanuel, K.A. 2005. Nature 436: 686-688.
These papers are loaded with climatic DATA, not opinions. I am a scientist - I do not just make things up.
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