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| 5/20 |
| 2005/9/24-28 [Transportation/Car/RoadHogs, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:39855 Activity:high |
9/24 Is there a link btwn global warming and hurricanes?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4276242.stm
\_ Thank you. You're right there is not enough data to suggest
global warming->hurricanes. I will continue driving my SUVs
because I don't believe in stuff like pollution->cancer.
I hate it when you liberals accuse me of causing cancer and birth
defects. There's plenty of air and oil to go around. MY SUV, MY
property. Keep your liberal laws off of my SUV. -trl
\_ Get off the SUV drivers backs ; anyone driving a gas/diesel
powered vehicle is guilty, weighted in their actual fuel
consumption.
\_ Yes, I agree. Everyone who burns fossil fuel is guilty
to the extent that they consume that. What peeves me
is that SUV drivers don't pay for their fair share
of things. They cause more damage to our roadways from
their extra weight, they cause more environmental damage,
and they are a greater risk on the road. But SUV drivers
get away without paying more in taxes and, in some
cases, get tax breaks. So no, I won't get off SUV
drivers backs until they pay their fair share.
\_ Hehe, and it was you liberals (or more accurately you
environmentalists) who have helped set back atomic energy
for decades, resulting in our continued dependency on
inefficient and ultimately hazardous fossil fuels.
Stuff like renewable energy isn't a real solution to
the problem. Neither is "ride bike" bullshit. If people
want a real solution we should start looking into viable
long-term strategies and not be knee-jerk about it.
Of course, this will never happen.
\_ You are a useless sack of shit. Maybe we can solve
the energy crisis by running turbines off of the hot air
that comes out of the mouths of jackoff know it all sysadmins
like you.
\_ Hehe, and it was you republicans (or more accurately you
SUV drivers) who have needlessly wasted our fuel supply
for decades, resulting in our continued dependency on
inefficient and ultimately hazardous fossil fuels.
Stuff like "Why do you hate America?" isn't a real solution
to the problem. Neither is "Why do you support terrorist?"
Stuff like invading another country isn't a real solution
to the problem. Neither is "Why do you hate America?"
bullshit. If people want a real solution we should start
looking into viable long-term strategies and not be
knee-jerk about it. Of course, this will never happen.
\_ Do you understand that the guy you're responding to was the
fuckhead who thinks people who don't like the way the 2004
election turned out should all move to Canada?
\_ You are a useless sack of shit.
\_ Pot. Kettle. Black.
\_ Yeah, "real solutions" like invading other countries.
\_ $6/gallon gasoline tax would take care of the problem
pretty quickly. We should make the SUV drivers shoulder
the true cost (military, etc) of their gasoline.
\_ Troll? I'll respond anyway but I'll keep it simple:
$6/gallon gas tax: dead economy. Low gas prices pay for
themselves by having low prices for everything else. Do
you work? You won't have a job. Are you in school?
Forget loans and grants. Forget social programs including
education. We should continue to ignore crack pots with
an axe to grind.
\_ How'd UK and Japan survive?
\_ They're falling apart. You want to swap economies
with either one?
\_ Do you equate success and value
economic numbers and nothing else?
\_ Which economy would you swap with and what
positive thing do you think you'd be getting
along with your screwed up foreign economy?
If you're going to troll, you need to bring
your own troll toys to play with.
\_ FWIW, Japan's economy is finally having a
revival. It's bad bank debts have been mostly
dealt with already. Buy some Japanese stocks.
EWJ perhaps?
\_ Granted, they're no longer in a deep recession
but would you trade economies with them? What
country would you swap economies with at this
time?
\_ Denmark. !op !pp
\_ I am not sure what you mean by "swap
economies". I wouldn't mind swapping a
S&P500 index fund for a TOPIX fund
S&P500 index fund with a TOPIX fund
though, at least for the next year or two.
\_ Australia.
\_ I would swap economies with any Northern
European nation. I want six weeks of
vacation and six months of paid family
leave. I would pay $6/gallon gasoline
for things like that. I bet over the
next 20 years, as Peak Oil hits, they
will do much better in every way
economically.
\_ Must be why so many Swedish white collar
professionals are moving to the UK for
its low (!) taxes. -John
\ Even the Japanese take more
\_ UK economy is pretty strong is it not?
vacation time than we do and crime is practically
non-existant compared to the USAnot to mention a great public
transit system. The cute girls is a nice perk too ;-)
Heck; even moving to canada would be an
improvement
\_ Why do you care? We just heard that global warming is irreversible
now. I'm burning tires for electricity. |
| 5/20 |
|
| news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4276242.stm Printable version Hurricanes and global warming - a link? Analysis by Richard Black Environment Correspondent, BBC News website Hurricane from space, Eumetsat Scientists need more data - and that only comes with time Here is a recipe for an explosive news cocktail. Add two intense a nd damaging natural storms which bring destruction to that country; then mix in the widely held view that the same nation's environmental polici es are partially responsible for those storms. In the polarised world of climate change, this cocktail has proved an irr esistible temptation to organisations which campaign against President B ush's administration in support of enhanced action to curb greenhouse ga s emissions. The latest to succumb was the British newspaper The Independent, which sc reamed on its front page: "This is global warming", above an alarmingly portentous graphic of Hurricane Rita's projected path. What is the evidence that the growing concentra tions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are changing weather systems in such a way that hurricanes become more powe rful, or more frequent? Well above average Certainly, 2005 appears to have been an unusually active year. The US National Hurricane Center/Tropical Prediction Center comments in i ts August summary that "thus far in 2005, there have been 12 named storm s and four hurricanes. "These numbers are well above the long-term averages of 44 storms and 2 1 hurricanes that would normally have formed by this date." But a single year's observation does not permit the divination of a long- term trend, or the attribution of that trend to a cause such as climatic warming. Sea surface temperatures (Noaa) "Based on recent research, the consensus view is that we don't expect glo bal warming to make a difference to the frequency of hurricanes," explai ns Julian Heming, from the UK Meteorological Office. "Activity is naturally very variable in terms of frequency, intensity and regional occurrence; in the Atlantic, there are active phases and not s o active phases, and currently we're in the middle of an active phase. "It's very dangerous to explain Rita or Katrina through global warming, b ecause we have always had strong hurricanes in the USA - the strongest o ne on record dates back to 1935." Regular changes Records from the 20th Century suggest that hurricane formation over the A tlantic has changed phase every few decades: the 1940s and 50s were acti ve, the 70s and 80s less so, while the currently active phase appears to have commenced in 1995. A key factor in the formation of a tropical cyclone - a low-pressure regi on that can turn into a hurricane - is sea-surface temperature, which ha s to be above about 27 degrees Celsius. Katrina damage (AP) Population growth means there is now more property to damage So anything which changes the sea-surface temperature in the right parts of the world could theoretically affect hurricane formation. The most recent study on the issue, published this month in the journal S cience, found that while the incidence of hurricanes and tropical storms has remained roughly constant over the last 30 years, there has been a rise in the number of intense hurricanes with wind speeds above 211km/h (131mph). The leader of that research project, Dr Peter Webster, believes there may be a link to climate change. "What I think we can say is that the increase in intensity is probably ac counted for by the increase in sea-surface temperature," he told the BBC News website, "and I think probably the sea-surface temperature increas e is a manifestation of global warming." "The problem is," observes Julian Heming, "that we can only look back abo ut 35 years with satellite data; before that the record is somewhat unre liable, and 35 years isn't long enough to draw a definite conclusion. "Before global satellite coverage, we're pretty sure there are gaps in th e record; storms would start at sea and die out at sea, so we never knew about them." Global connections The changing phases of Atlantic hurricane activity are not completely und erstood; but there appears to be a link to fluctuations in the thermohal ine circulation, the global pattern of ocean currents which in western E urope appears as the Gulf Stream. By causing the sea-surface temperature in the tropical Atlantic to change by even a degree Celsius, these fluctuations can bring major difference s to the number of hurricanes generated in a particular year. Other natural climate cycles such as the El Nino Southern Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation may also play a role. The other crucial factor with Katrina and Rita is where they landed. others will hit a sparsely-populated ar ea, causing minimal damage. Bar chart showing hurricane land strikes (Noaa) This also appears to be determined by weather systems, in particular the location of a region of high atmospheric pressure, the sub-tropical ridg e "In the Atlantic, storms form in the east and move towards the west," say s Julian Heming, "and at some point they turn northwards. "Where they turn northwards has much to do with the weather conditions fu rther north; "Last year it did extend across the Atlantic, and so hurricanes were forc ed much further west - hence Ivan, Jean, Charlie and Francis all hit the US." Bigger and bolder Every time a hurricane comes along - or a flood, or a drought, or a freez e, or a heatwave - the question is now asked "is it linked to global war ming?" A decade ago, that was not the case - a clear signal that climate change is now firmly established in the public mind and in the political arena. Galveston's great storm Now that climate scientists are being taken seriously, they are also unde r pressure to produce instant answers. Another problem is th at some scientists - not to mention lobby groups, environmental organisa tions, politicians, newspapers and commentators - will go much further i n their public statements than the data allow. With such incendiary material, that is unlikely to change; but it is diff icult to avoid the conclusion that we would all benefit from people on b oth wings of the issue looking rather more to research, however laboured its progress, and rather less to screaming headlines and easy quotes. |