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Is Global Warming Causing More Devastating Hurricanes Worldwide?
Hurricane Katrina forced a mass evacuation of New Orleans and may leave up to a million people homeless. As this unprecedented storm deluges the South, we look at new evidence that human-induced global warming is causing the increased strength of tropical storms.
Hurricane Katrina was downgraded from a level five to a level four storm just before it made landfall in Louisiana this morning. The storm is judged by weather experts to have the strongest central force, or intensity, of any recorded storm in the United States except the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935. Torrential rains are inundating the coast and winds around 250 kilometers per hour are ripping through New Orleans. The massive storm prompted an unprecedented evacuation of the city.
* Ray Nagin, Mayor of New Orleans
The city of New Orleans is below sea level and faces major flooding from Hurricane Katrina. More than half a million people have been ordered to evacuate the city and the storm could leave up to one million people homeless.
President Bush declared a state of emergency for Louisiana and Mississippi over the weekend. Federal emergency workers are preparing staging centers to deal with the fallout of the storm.
As Katrina pounds New Orleans, we are going to look at how this storm compares to others that have hit the United States and at the link between climate change and hurricane strength.
Tropical storms may be growing in overall intensity due to human-induced global warming, according to a new study by leading hurricane researcher Kerry Emanuel. His report, which has generated controversy among climate specialists, was published earlier this month in the journal Nature. Emanuel looked comprehensively at storm data since the mid-1970s and concluded that the destructive power of hurricanes has nearly doubled over the past three decades at least partially because of human-induced global warming. Critics of the study say hurricanes are not intensifying and that the cause of the rising ocean temperature is natural, not human-made.
* Kerry Emanuel, Professor of Meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He authored the study in "Nature" on the link between human-induced global warming and increasing hurricane strength. His new book is called "Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes."
LISTEN ONLINE
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/08/29/145206
* Ray Nagin, Mayor of New Orleans
The city of New Orleans is below sea level and faces major flooding from Hurricane Katrina. More than half a million people have been ordered to evacuate the city and the storm could leave up to one million people homeless.
President Bush declared a state of emergency for Louisiana and Mississippi over the weekend. Federal emergency workers are preparing staging centers to deal with the fallout of the storm.
As Katrina pounds New Orleans, we are going to look at how this storm compares to others that have hit the United States and at the link between climate change and hurricane strength.
Tropical storms may be growing in overall intensity due to human-induced global warming, according to a new study by leading hurricane researcher Kerry Emanuel. His report, which has generated controversy among climate specialists, was published earlier this month in the journal Nature. Emanuel looked comprehensively at storm data since the mid-1970s and concluded that the destructive power of hurricanes has nearly doubled over the past three decades at least partially because of human-induced global warming. Critics of the study say hurricanes are not intensifying and that the cause of the rising ocean temperature is natural, not human-made.
* Kerry Emanuel, Professor of Meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He authored the study in "Nature" on the link between human-induced global warming and increasing hurricane strength. His new book is called "Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes."
LISTEN ONLINE
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/08/29/145206
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One way of dealing with rising sea levels and increasing storm activity is to convert the near sea level city of New Orleans into a gondola boat transit city similar to Venice Italy. Building a city at such low elevation requires a floodberm wall on the Mississippi River for flood prevention and constant flood damage to roads from winter storms and summer/fall hurricanes..
With global warming's inevitable sea level rise, a conversion to a gondola city will prevent future stress from flooding. The petroleum corporations (cause of global warming) should be held accountable to pay for this conversion..
With global warming's inevitable sea level rise, a conversion to a gondola city will prevent future stress from flooding. The petroleum corporations (cause of global warming) should be held accountable to pay for this conversion..
Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast with devastating force Monday morning leaving at least 55 people dead and more than a million people in three states without power.
The death toll is expected to rise once rescue units reach the worst hit areas. The number left homeless is unknown. The true extent of the damage may not be known for days.
With 145-mile-per hour winds, the storm was ranks as one of the most punishing hurricanes ever to hit the United States. Insurance experts said that damage could range between $9 billion and $16 billion, which would make it one of the costliest storms on record.
The storm had been on target to directly hit downtown New Orleans but it veered to the east. Still some 40,000 homes are underwater in New Orleans. And high winds tore off part of the rood of the Louisiana Superdome stadium.
The hardest hit area appears to be Mississippi's Harrison county which accounts for 50 of the known deaths. In Gulfport, three of the city's five hospitals were left without emergency rooms. The city's fire chief estimates 75 percent of the buildings in Gulfport have major roof damage or no roof left at all.
President Bush yesterday approved "major disaster declarations" for Louisiana and Mississippi to help them obtain government aid.
* President Bush, August 29, 2005.
But while Bush pledges support for the relief efforts, some say his record is not consistent.
In June, the publication New Orleans City Business reported that President Bush was seeking to slash funds that would help New Orleans prepare for a major hurricane. The report said that in fiscal year 2006, the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers faces a record $71 million reduction in federal funding. Those cuts would affect major hurricane and flood protection projects.
Katrina was making its second touchdown in the US after striking southern Florida last week, where it caused widespread flooding and seven deaths. On today's program, we are going to cover several aspects of this storm. As reports talk about this being one of the costliest hurricanes in US history, we look at who gets hit the hardest economically as well as hurricane Katrina and global warming.
* David Helvarg, President of the Blue Frontier Campaign and author of the books "The War Against the Greens" and "Blue Frontier: Saving Americas Living Seas." He is also a contributor to Feeling the Heat - Reports from the Frontlines of Climate Change.
* Damu Smith, founder of Black Voices for Peace and executive director of the National Black Environmental Justice Network. For more than three decades, Damu has worked tirelessly on the frontlines of the anti-war and environmental justice movements.
LISTEN ONLINE
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/08/30/1354242
The death toll is expected to rise once rescue units reach the worst hit areas. The number left homeless is unknown. The true extent of the damage may not be known for days.
With 145-mile-per hour winds, the storm was ranks as one of the most punishing hurricanes ever to hit the United States. Insurance experts said that damage could range between $9 billion and $16 billion, which would make it one of the costliest storms on record.
The storm had been on target to directly hit downtown New Orleans but it veered to the east. Still some 40,000 homes are underwater in New Orleans. And high winds tore off part of the rood of the Louisiana Superdome stadium.
The hardest hit area appears to be Mississippi's Harrison county which accounts for 50 of the known deaths. In Gulfport, three of the city's five hospitals were left without emergency rooms. The city's fire chief estimates 75 percent of the buildings in Gulfport have major roof damage or no roof left at all.
President Bush yesterday approved "major disaster declarations" for Louisiana and Mississippi to help them obtain government aid.
* President Bush, August 29, 2005.
But while Bush pledges support for the relief efforts, some say his record is not consistent.
In June, the publication New Orleans City Business reported that President Bush was seeking to slash funds that would help New Orleans prepare for a major hurricane. The report said that in fiscal year 2006, the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers faces a record $71 million reduction in federal funding. Those cuts would affect major hurricane and flood protection projects.
Katrina was making its second touchdown in the US after striking southern Florida last week, where it caused widespread flooding and seven deaths. On today's program, we are going to cover several aspects of this storm. As reports talk about this being one of the costliest hurricanes in US history, we look at who gets hit the hardest economically as well as hurricane Katrina and global warming.
* David Helvarg, President of the Blue Frontier Campaign and author of the books "The War Against the Greens" and "Blue Frontier: Saving Americas Living Seas." He is also a contributor to Feeling the Heat - Reports from the Frontlines of Climate Change.
* Damu Smith, founder of Black Voices for Peace and executive director of the National Black Environmental Justice Network. For more than three decades, Damu has worked tirelessly on the frontlines of the anti-war and environmental justice movements.
LISTEN ONLINE
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/08/30/1354242
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