Hurricane Chris?

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If you have thought global warming fears haven’t manifested yet this year, then think again. Tropical storm Chris [the gray blob on the lower left] is threatening to be a category one hurricane by the time it hits the Gulf of Mexico. Then, the shittake hits the fan and the warm waters [70-80F] of the Gulf can elevate the ‘tropical storm’ to a major hurricane headed straight toward Houston. Gulp!

Update: The tropical storm apparently ran out of steam and dissipated. Whew!

“Hurricane Chris?” [Short URL: http://www.ipatrix.com/?p=1562] was published Tuesday, August 1st, 2006 at 10:52 pm by Patrix, filed under Environment, and tagged as Environment. Both comments and linkbacks are closed.

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bloghopper
Just nitpicking. Why do the ads come in between the title and the article ?
http://ipatrix.com Patrix
Bloghopper, errr…I am told that produces a higher click thru rate :)
Update: Damn! I got what you were trying to say. I thought the ads were visible when you opened each post and not on the front page. Has been fixed now.
bloghopper
Much better, Thanks !
http://palscape.wordpress.com BongoPondit
Looks like Chris has run out of steam.
I am not sure why we should invoke global warming fears everytime a hurricane/tropical storm approaches.
http://kaisare.net/wlog Niket
I second bongo. The jury is still out on the effect of global warming on the intensity or frequency of hurricanes (not saying if, but how and by how much). Even if hurricanes are now more frequent and stronger than before due to global warming, you may not attribute a specific hurricane or tropical storm to it.
http://ipatrix.com Patrix
Bongo, Niket, I’m glad that Chris ran out of steam…didn’t want to go through another evacuation here. Also, invoking global warming fears each time a hurricane approaches is simply because the Gulf of Mexico is warmer than it has ever been. And warm waters of the Gulf make otherwise normal hurricanes stronger. For e.g. Chris if had reached the Gulf as a building tropical storm, it would not take long for it to acquire strength as a Cat.3 hurricane (maybe more) as it heads toward us.
http://kaisare.net/wlog Niket
If Chris’s strenghtening can be taken as an evidence of global warming, why can’t its running out of steam be taken as an evidence that global warming is a “liberal conspiracy” (or whatever the current conservative soundbites are)?
You cannot attribute landfall of certain cat 4 or 5 hurricane(s) to global warming, at least not yet.
You might find the following article interesting:
[T]here has been a global rise of the most intense hurricanes over the last 30 years and the most obvious explanation is that this is related to the contemporaneous increases in tropical [Surface Sea Temperatures] in each basin. [...]
Possibly the theory needs work (hurricanes are a complicated business!) or there are other factors at play that haven’t yet been considered. Since the SST changes are global, and almost certainly tied to greenhouse gas driven global warming, there are the beginnings of a corroborated link between increases in hurricane intensity and [Global Warming] – however, so far there are only a couple of ducks in a row.
(Emphasis mine, Acronyms expanded)
http://kaisare.net/wlog Niket
Here is a nice post by PZ Myers (of Pharyngula)
I am writing this because we are on topic of global warming… the link is not really related to the discussion so far.
http://ipatrix.com Patrix
Niket, Definitely I don’t belong to the Pat Robertson camp :) My only fears and possible linking hurricanes to global warming was due to increasing temperatures of our oceans, especially the Gulf of Mexico that strengthens several hurricanes headed this way. More scientific evidence should be encouraged and currently that link although tenuous may still be plausible.

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Hurricane Chris?

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