Time: Global Warming responsible for Worsening Hurricanes
Time magazine reports on a new study by Nature which concludes that rising ocean temperatures caused by global climate change are responsible for hurricanes becoming a greater threat.
From the Time article:
Read the full article here.All these hurricanes in such a short period of time begs the question: are storms getting stronger, and if so, what's causing it? According to a new paper in Nature, the answer is yes — and global warming seems to be the culprit.
....
Think of the damage that hurricans have caused even without the possible effect of warming: Hurricane Camille in 1969, which caused over $9 billion in damages, and Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which caused $38 billion in damages. Now imagine those storms potentially amplified by the unpredictable effect of global warming. We need to be prepared. Gustav caused far less damage than Katrina because it was a weaker storm, yes, but also because we were ready this time. But we also need to reduce carbon emissions and blunt climate change — or we may experience storms for which there is no preparation.
Labels: climate change, gulf, hurricanes
Edouard Come to Texas
As Tropical Storm Eduard moves toward the Upper Texas coast, it is providing a little-noticed service. In churning the normally languid summertime coastal waters, it is curbing the spread of an 8,000-square-mile dead zone.
The zone, first detected in the 1970s, is created when the outflow of the Mississippi River dumps nitrogen and phosphates from crop fertilizer runoff and human effluent into the Gulf of Mexico, sparking intense blooms of algae. As the algae decompose and sink into the depths, oxygen is absorbed from the water, creating an environment where fish, crabs and shrimp cannot survive. The phenomenon known as hypoxia typically occurs during the summer months, and dissipates with the arrival of cooler weather. This year's dead zone is tied for the second-largest on record, topped only by an 8,500-square-mile monster in 2002.
