The claim is common that global warming is generating more and stronger hurricanes. (And other tropical cyclones. Technically, as Paul Homewood points out, these storms are called hurricanes when they develop over the Atlantic or eastern Pacific Oceans, cyclones when they form over the Bay of Bengal and the northern Indian Ocean, and and typhoons when they develop in the western Pacific.) Is it true? Not according to the empirical data. Those show that there has been no significant upward … [Read more...]
History 1, Hansen 0
In 1988, James Hansen confidently predicted that the world would be about 1 degree Celsius warmer today than it was then. Actually, he offered three scenarios: A, "business as usual," with rapidly rising carbon dioxide emissions, which would bring that 1 degree; B, "most plausible," with emissions remaining constant at 1988 levels, which would make the world 0.7 degree warmer today; and C, with emissions rising from 1988 to 2000 and then stabilizing, which would make the world about 0.3 … [Read more...]
URGENT: A Call to Prayer for Millions in the Path of Hurricane Irma
As I write, Hurricane Irma has reached Category 5, with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph. The National Hurricane Center calls it “the strongest hurricane in the Atlantic basin outside of the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico in the NHC records” (emphasis added). The NHC says Irma “will bring life-threatening wind, storm surge, and rainfall hazards to portions of the northeastern Leeward Islands beginning later today"; the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico beginning tomorrow, reaching the … [Read more...]
Global Warming: A Priority for the Rich and Free
Folks like those who stage events like the "Walk Against Warming" illustrated above think fighting climate change is a high priority. President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry say climate change is the greatest threat facing the world. But United Nations-sponsored worldwide polling suggests that how people answer the question, "How high a priority is fighting global warming?" depends significantly on their economic condition. Data for all countries and country groups, ages, education … [Read more...]
