Originally published August 6 2005
Global warming causes stronger hurricanes, study says
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A recent study has stated that global warming is causing hurricanes to be stronger and more deadly.
Scientists call the findings both surprising and "alarming" because they suggest global warming is influencing storms now - rather than in the distant future.
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.
Knutson, who wasn't involved in the study, works in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, N.J.
Emanuel reached his conclusions by analyzing data collected from actual storms rather than using computer models to predict future storm behavior.
Before this study, most researchers believed global warming's contribution to powerful hurricanes was too slight to accurately measure.
Most forecasts don't have climate change making a real difference in tropical storms until 2050 or later.
If early storms turn out to be more powerful than originally thought, Emmanuel's findings on global warming's influence on recent tropical storms might not hold up, they said.
Landsea is a director of the historical hurricane reanalysis.
Theories and computer simulations indicate that global warming should generate an increase in storm intensity, in part because warmer temperatures would heat up the surface of the oceans.
He found the amount of energy released in these storms in both the North Atlantic and the North Pacific oceans has increased, especially since the mid-1970s.
In the Atlantic, the sea surface temperatures show a pronounced upward trend.
"The damage and casualties produced by more intense storms could increase considerably in the future," Emanuel said.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml