Hurricanes

Sort by

    • thumbnail

      Study Ties Warming to Intense Hurricanes

      Posted by Billbar from Live Science

      A series of studies over the past year or so have shown an increase in the power of hurricanes in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, a strengthening that storm experts say is tied to rising sea-surface temperatures. And most of that temperature increase can be blamed on global warming caused by human activities such as automobile and industrial pollution, scientists report in Wednesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "The work that we've done kind of closes the loop here,'' said Tom Wigley of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., a co-author of the paper. "The important conclusion is that the observed (sea-surface temperature) increases in these hurricane breeding grounds cannot be explained by natural processes alone,'' said Wigley. "The best explanation for these changes has to include a large human influence.''

      Read comments (1)

    • Worst is yet to come, US hurricane chief says

      Posted by Billbar from Reuters

      If you thought the sight of the great American jazz city New Orleans flooded to the eaves -- its people trapped in attics or cowering on rooftops -- was the nightmare hurricane scenario, think again. Max Mayfield, director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center, says there's plenty of potential for a storm worse than Hurricane Katrina which killed 1,339 people along the U.S. Gulf coast and caused some $80 billion in damage last August. "People think we have seen the worst. We haven't," Mayfield told Reuters in an interview at the fortress-like hurricane center in Florida. "I think the day is coming. I think eventually we're going to have a very powerful hurricane in a major metropolitan area worse than what we saw in Katrina and it's going to be a mega-disaster. With lots of lost lives," Mayfield said. "I don't know whether that's going to be this year or five years from now or a hundred years from now. But as long as we continue to develop the coastline like we are, we're setting up for disaster."

      Read comments (1)

    • Man-made Climate Change Causing Stronger Hurricanes

      Posted by Billbar from Live Science

      Recent studies have linked rising sea surface temperatures, or SSTs, in the Atlantic Ocean to climate change caused by human activities. Warmer SST's means the ocean is capable of storing more energy—energy that is converted into wind power during tropical storms. However, other scientists blame a decades-long natural variation in ocean temperature, called the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, or AMO, for the rising SST trend. Now, James Elsner, director of the Hurricane Center at Florida State University, says he has broken the deadlock using a statistical test that determines causality. His conclusion: that a warming atmosphere is raising sea surface temperatures, causing hurricanes to become stronger.

      Post a comment

    • The next New Orleans

      Posted by Billbar from Salon

      An interview with Mike Tidwell, author of "The Ravaging Tide: Strange Weather, Future Katrinas and the Coming Death of America's Coastal Cities." He predicted Katrina and now forecasts watery catastrophe for New York, Houston and D.C.

      Post a comment

« Previous12Next »


What is

NewsCloud?

» The most important stories from around the Web all in one place

» Gathered and ranked by a community of passionate readers surfing the Web 24 hours a day

» Ready to share: email stories, post news to your blog and keep up with your friends

Learn more



  • Just Said
  • Top Posters
  •  
  1. thumbnail

    muckraker comments on:

    Study Ties Warming to Intense Hurricanes

    One of the many tragedies of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina three years ago was the fact that insurance companies used the event to systematically deny claims, leaving victims further in desperate straits. That shouldn’t happen following any natural disaster, and even though the immediate storm effects did not cause as much damage as predicted, there are sure to be plenty of claims for flood damages throughout the Midwest and along Gustav’s path. If you or someone you know has been denied an insurance claim related to Gustav: that would be a site you should visit.

     

    Reply »

    8:52 pm 9/11/08
  2. thumbnail

    muckraker comments on:

    Study Finds Hurricanes Frequent in Some Cooler Periods

    One of the many tragedies of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina three years ago was the fact that insurance companies used the event to systematically deny claims, leaving victims further in desperate straits. That shouldn’t happen following any natural disaster, and even though the immediate storm effects did not cause as much damage as predicted, there are sure to be plenty of claims for flood damages throughout the Midwest and along Gustav’s path. If you or someone you know has been denied an insurance claim related to Gustav: that would be a site you should visit.

     

    Reply »

    8:48 pm 9/11/08
  3. thumbnail

    Billbar comments on:

    Worst is yet to come, US hurricane chief says

    Max Mayfield, director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center, gets it.

    Reply »

    7:31 am 8/22/06
  • Just Said
  • Top Posters
  •  

    There are no top posters for this section at this time.

  • Popular Topics