Study: Warming Making Hurricanes Stronger

[jazz lady]

Is global warming making hurricanes more ferocious? New research suggests the answer is yes. Scientists call the findings both surprising and "alarming" because they suggest global warming is influencing storms now — rather than in the distant future.

However, the research doesn't suggest global warming is generating more hurricanes and typhoons.
The analysis by climatologist Kerry Emanuel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows for the first time that major storms spinning in both the Atlantic and the Pacific since the 1970s have increased in duration and intensity by about 50 percent.

These trends are closely linked to increases in the average temperatures of the ocean surface and also correspond to increases in global average atmospheric temperatures during the same period.

"When I look at these results at face value, they are rather alarming," said research meteorologist Tom Knutson. "These are very big changes."

Global warming = stronger hurricanes?

You can see this by the amount of destruction wrought in the last decade by all the hurricanes. I would have second and third thoughts about moving to the southeastern US, especially since this trend is forecasted to continue for at least the next 20 years!

 

[Oz]

I don't think you can move anywhere, and get away from the weather...

 

[Mikeinsmd]

Flawed information.... Dontcha know Bush is causing it....

 

[jazz lady]

So it's just another smear campaign by the Democrats?

 

[SeaRide]

Speaking of destruction, I had a good debate with my friends about where to live. Most of the discussion was based on where would you rather live and which area would most houses last a long time.

We were talking about how many old houses that are still standing in the northeastern US but again the snowstorm/blizzards are somewhat a pain in the butt at times. Short summertime up in the northeastern US would be a good time to maintain the house to prepare for the long severe winter.

Then we were talking about some old houses that are still standing in the southeastern US that haven't got hit by hurricanes .. yet. Hmm, I thought that was something.

 

[jazz lady]

Speaking of destruction, I had a good debate with my friends about where to live. Most of the discussion was based on where would you rather live and which area would most houses last a long time.

We were talking about how many old houses that are still standing in the northeastern US but again the snowstorm/blizzards are somewhat a pain in the butt at times. Short summertime up in the northeastern US would be a good time to maintain the house to prepare for the long severe winter.

Then we were talking about some old houses that are still standing in the southeastern US that haven't got hit by hurricanes .. yet. Hmm, I thought that was something.

That's pretty interesting. I think houses can withstand snowstorms/blizzards a heck of a lot better than even the lowliest ranked hurricane. It's always a crap shoot as to where hurricanes will hit, but I think anyplace in the range from North Carolina south is a likely target eventually.

There's a great article in the August issue of National Geographic on the subject of warmer ocean water and the effect it is having on the number and severity of hurricanes. There's an awesome graphic comparing two decades (1985-1994 with cooler ocean temps and 1995-2004 with warmer ocean temps) and showing the tracks of the storms. The difference is very dramatic. There were half as many major hurricanes when the temps were relatively low versus the last decade when the ocean warmed up. The southeastern coast and the Gulf of Mexico got hammered not only by the number of storms but by the severity of them.

I haven't finished reading the entire article yet, but so far it is absolutely fascinating.

 

[tomchamp]

http://www.pacificresearch.org/jump/2005/EnviroIndex2005.html#

 

[jazz lady]

http://www.pacificresearch.org/jump/2005/EnviroIndex2005.html#

And your point? What specifically did you want us to look at? :shrug:

 

[tomchamp]

And your point? What specifically did you want us to look at? :shrug:

No point really Jazz...just I don't believe in "Global Warming" and that's some good reading! K! Play some Music!

 

[jazz lady]

No point really Jazz...just I don't believe in "Global Warming" and that's some good reading! K! Play some Music!

Gotcha. I wasn't sure if there was one specific thing of interest. I'm trying hard to determine if global warming is just a cyclic part of nature or if man is having more effect on the globe than we realize. I truly believe man IS having an impact and is playing a part in global warming, but just how much and how severe we don't know.

And I am posting some good music while researching global warming. I'm multitasking.

 

[tomchamp]

Yo!

Did you just call me a---><a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008_ZSYYYYYYYYUS' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_2_51.gif' alt='Nerd' border=0></a>

 

[jazz lady]

Did you just call me a---> <img src="http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008_ZSYYYYYYYYUShttp://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_2_51.gif">

No, I'm calling MYSELF a <img src="http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008_ZSYYYYYYYYUShttp://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_2_51.gif">

 

[Triggerfish]

No point really Jazz...just I don't believe in "Global Warming" and that's some good reading! K! Play some Music!

I think "global warming" is accepted by most scientists as real. The real question is whether humans are causing it or it's part of a natural cycle.

 

[Railroad]

Earth's orbit is decaying, and the sun is expanding as it ages. It's only a matter of time before we burn up. Buy subterranean real estate now, while you can!

 

[jazz lady]

I think "global warming" is accepted by most scientists as real. The real question is whether humans are causing it or it's part of a natural cycle.

I said the same thing a couple of posts earlier. I read the rest of the article last night. It's very true the Earth does have cycles and the warming of the oceans does occur naturally as the prevailing winds change. But the changes we're seeing now are above and beyond what is considered "normal" so it is very possible that man's effect on nature is intensifying this natural cycle.

 

[ylexot]

But the changes we're seeing now are above and beyond what is considered "normal" so it is very possible that man's effect on nature is intensifying this natural cycle.

How do you know that? You're not that old.

 

[jazz lady]

How do you know that? You're not that old.

Do you want a hurting first thing Monday morning?

No, scientists study ice core samples and other things to track the cycles in the past. I remember the article talking about approximately 70 year cycles, but I don't remember the exact details right now.

 

[Bruzilla]

We got hit by two of the four hurricanes that went through Florida last year, and it's no big deal. The media dorks love to show those little clips of buildings with a piece of fascia hanging down, or a broken window. What they don't show you is the 95% of the buildings that had no damage. The worst damage we had was that three of my wife's rose bushes were blown out of the ground.

 

[truby20]

We got hit by two of the four hurricanes that went through Florida last year, and it's no big deal. The media dorks love to show those little clips of buildings with a piece of fascia hanging down, or a broken window. What they don't show you is the 95% of the buildings that had no damage. The worst damage we had was that three of my wife's rose bushes were blown out of the ground.

You didn't get "hit" by two of the four hurricanes last year, you were affected by them. You have to remember that wind of 150 mph is not twice as strong as a 75 mph wind, it's almost an exponential increase in force....

Remember Andrew? It blew down a little more than rose bushes:

43 Billion dollars in damage

Global Warming is not going away, whether caused by man or not the truth is the earth's temperature is warming...a warmer earth has warmer oceans and warmer oceans mean more energy is available for hurricanes (if all other conditions are favorable).

 

[Triggerfish]

Just because Jacksonvile wasn't affected that badly doesn't mean that the rest of the state wasn't hit bad.


Orlando wasn't hit as hard as other places but there were trees pulled out of the ground everywhere.

Some places in the state took multiple direct hits and they were devastated.