Where have all the Atlantic hurricanes gone?

[D'kian]

Remember when hurricanes Katrina and RIta hit? The viros cited the two category 5 storms as proof of what kind fo weather we could expect in the age of Global Warming (a.k.a. Climate Change). Predictions were issued for a much worse hurricane season the following year, and warnings to the fact that things owuld only get worse.

Well, here we are in August 2009 and there have been no hurricanes in the Atlantic thus far. In fact the hurricane seasons after Katrina have been rather mild.

So I wonder how this will all be blamed on Climate Change (a.k.a. Global Warming)

[Rockefeller]

Remember when hurricanes Katrina and RIta hit? The viros cited the two category 5 storms as proof of what kind fo weather we could expect in the age of Global Warming (a.k.a. Climate Change). Predictions were issued for a much worse hurricane season the following year, and warnings to the fact that things owuld only get worse.

Well, here we are in August 2009 and there have been no hurricanes in the Atlantic thus far. In fact the hurricane seasons after Katrina have been rather mild.

So I wonder how this will all be blamed on Climate Change (a.k.a. Global Warming)

Facts don't matter to them. They have already "declared" global warming in 21st century, and are busy publishing papers on how a small town in East Africa is going to get affected by that.

I always yell "false" whenever the 'viros' show an image of Katrina and put the caption global warming. [A Convenient] Truth is that the sensitivity of hurricane genesis to climate change is very less. This is mainly because the conditions in tropics - the birthplace of tropical storms - are least affected by the change of climate. Even during ice ages or warmer climate, historical records show that the tropics had similar climate as today.

Year to year variability in tropical storms is largely caused by large scale ocean-atmosphere oscillations (e.g. El Nino). It is ridiculous to talk about a given storm being caused by climate change.

Global warming alarmists use statements like "Category 4 and 5 hurricanes have almost doubled in the last 30 years" (Science section on 'An Inconvenient Truth' website). Noted scientists (like Kerry Emanuel) shamelessly back them up, knowing perfectly well about the uncertainty in observations then and now.

[RussK]

Remember when hurricanes Katrina and RIta hit? The viros cited the two category 5 storms as proof of what kind fo weather we could expect in the age of Global Warming (a.k.a. Climate Change). Predictions were issued for a much worse hurricane season the following year, and warnings to the fact that things owuld only get worse.

Well, here we are in August 2009 and there have been no hurricanes in the Atlantic thus far. In fact the hurricane seasons after Katrina have been rather mild.

So I wonder how this will all be blamed on Climate Change (a.k.a. Global Warming)

Truly the least active tropical season for the Atlantic I can remember. Katrina may be the costliest hurricane to hit the United States--though I think most of the damage could have been prevented--but it wasn't that strong of a hurricane; it was only a category 3 storm if I remember correctly, so the intensity of it doesn't help the argument for global warming. Intensity, maybe not frequency, has probably been winding down for years. Now we may be seeing a trend in reduction of frequency. The real question is what type of damage will occur through heat and drought--costliest natural disasters--if the reduction in frequency of tropical systems becomes reality.

[D'kian]

Katrina may be the costliest hurricane to hit the United States--though I think most of the damage could have been prevented--but it wasn't that strong of a hurricane; it was only a category 3 storm if I remember correctly, so the intensity of it doesn't help the argument for global warming.

Hurricanes gain and loose strength throughout their trajectories. Katrina was a 5 briefly and a 3 when it hit. The problem lies in that it was reported as 5 and 4 most of the time and that's what people remember. A steady 3 Hurricane would have caused perhaps as much damage. In fact, most of the flooding happened after the hurricane passed, when the levies failed to contain the lake.

And of course much of the damage and especially the loss of life could have been prevented.

[RussK]

Global warming alarmists use statements like "Category 4 and 5 hurricanes have almost doubled in the last 30 years" (Science section on 'An Inconvenient Truth' website). Noted scientists (like Kerry Emanuel) shamelessly back them up, knowing perfectly well about the uncertainty in observations then and now.

And how much has tropical system monitoring advanced over that time? I would say a lot, but then again I'm not in the field. However, I do know it's a fact that the way hurricanes are classified has changed and become more accurate over time. It took what, three years for Hurricane Andrew to be reclassified as a category 5 storm because new methods of identifying intensity had become known, after Aug 1992.

[RussK]

A steady 3 Hurricane would have caused perhaps as much damage. In fact, most of the flooding happened after the hurricane passed, when the levies failed to contain the lake.

And of course much of the damage and especially the loss of life could have been prevented.

Yeah, that was my point. Anyone who was in tune to hurricane season, pre-Katrina, heard every year, whenever something entered the Gulf, that New Orleans would be destroyed if there was a direct hit because the levies probably couldn't withstand Cat 2.

[Capitalism Forever]

So I wonder how this will all be blamed on Climate Change (a.k.a. Global Warming)

Why, that's easy. There used to be lots of hurricanes; there are few hurricanes now. Therefore, THE CLIMATE HAS CHANGED!!! WE'RE ALL DOOMED!!!!!

It wouldn't surprise me to see articles soon on how the disappearance of those "pristine" hurricanes is causing "major disruptions in the ecosystem" blah blah blah etc.

[D'kian]

Why, that's easy. There used to be lots of hurricanes; there are few hurricanes now. Therefore, THE CLIMATE HAS CHANGED!!! WE'RE ALL DOOMED!!!!!

Uncanny. That's just what the office liberal told me. He slipped a bit, though, and claimed everything wrong with the weather was due to Cliamte Change™. And he turned a pretty shade of red when I asked him why he still drove an SUV.

It wouldn't surprise me to see articles soon on how the disappearance of those "pristine" hurricanes is causing "major disruptions in the ecosystem" blah blah blah etc.

Well, without hurricanes you see less rainfall. Aside from the rain in the hurricane area, Gulf hurricanes tend to cause rain hundreds of miles away. So thus far we've had a subpar rainy season.

[Thales]

Uncanny. That's just what the office liberal told me. He slipped a bit, though, and claimed everything wrong with the weather was due to Cliamte Change™. And he turned a pretty shade of red when I asked him why he still drove an SUV.

You should recommend to him the South Park episode "Two Days Before The Day After Tomorrow", season 9.

Edited August 10, 2009 by Thales

[Maximus]

The evil Bush isn't there to use HAARP to modify the weather to eradicate minorities.

[Yes]

Those fearful Atlantic hurricanes went elsewhere- to the Pacific, where they sometimes are named cyclones, typhoons, whatever.

Blame nature, not global warming

[Pigsaw]

Is Irene good enough?

or the general state of things in texas?

[Grames]

No, Irene was not really impressive. It simply has been a long time since one passed over the north-east metropolitan area like that, folks forgot what flooding was.

Texas is naturally arid and has suffered longer droughts in the past (nine consecutive years with no rain back in 1800's). Nothing to see there either. Move along.

[Craig24]

Is Irene good enough?

or the general state of things in texas?

No, Irene isn't good enough. I lived through Agnes and the flooding here is about the same (in many cases, not as bad) for most of the affected areas as it was in 1972. Grames is correct about Irene being "not really impressive".