Thursday, September 01, 2005

The politicization of Hurricane Katrina has begun.

Ok, so here we are barely 72 hrs into the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the howls are already coming from the anti-American left. Among the accusations I've heard is that the hurricane is the result of global warming (a byproduct of the U.S. refusal to sign the Kyoto treaty) and that President Bush used funds that were intended to reinforce the levies in the New Orleans area to finance the war in Iraq.

Man, I could write 10 pages on the ridiculousness of these assertions, including one email I got that claimed that global warming also causes earthquakes. That statement is so wrong that the reverse is almost true. Volcanic activity, which is created by the same phenomenon that causes earthquakes, actually creates greenhouse gases, which supposedly cause global warming.

By the way, since the last ice age ended, 10,000 years ago, the earth has experienced a warming trend. Considering that the industrial revolution isn't even 150 yrs old yet I think it would be hard to blame man (or America) for this trend.

Prepare yourself. The volleys are going to be coming fast and furious. The anti-American left is pissed that it's out of power and the cackling will only get louder (and funnier) from here on in.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh please. It's perfectly legitimate to question Bush's policy of ignoring global warming. The whole 10,000 years / 150 years is asinine - we only had internal combustion engines for those past 150 years. Cromagnon wasn't polluting much. Volcanic emissions (how many full-time active volcanoes remain?) can't be compared with billions of cars, factories, etc, emitting gasses constantly and increasingly. You can't say it's just a "warming tend" and not exacerbated by man.

Every scientist out there has been saying that the oceans are warmer and warm water contribute to the strenghtening of hurricanes. The hurricane may not be the result, but if the only significant climate change is not a factor, then explain to me how come every hurricane season brings more and stronger storms. This should be an eye opener. Nothing wrong with saying "we were mistaken".

I'm not even getting into the whole National Guard and war costs issues.

Henry Louis Gomez said...

I'm sorry to tell you that global warming is a natural phenomenon that has been happening for thousands of years. There have in fact been several ice ages followed by several periods of "warming". Otherwise the continents would still be covered with ice.

I challenge you to find one shred ofproof tha single penny that was intended for the levy system in New Orleans was instead spent in Iraq. Every single person living in New Orleans knew that it was vulnerable if the big one came.

Also check your facts on the hurricanes. Meteorologists claim that we are in the middle of an active cycle. That this is part of a recurring trend of "up" decades and "down" decades as they've observed over the last 100+ years. So we're in an "up" decade. Does that mean that global warming went away when we're in a "down" decade like the 80's.

NO OTHER COUNTRY has the pollution controls of the U.S. Not China with its 1/4 of the world's population. Not India with it's large population and rising economy. Not Mexico, certainly.

Henry Louis Gomez said...

By they way I never said volcanic activity was the leading source of greenhouse gases. But to say global warming causes earthquakes is patently wrong. So wrong that in fact it's the opposite, volcanism creates greenhouse gases which are the supposed culprit of global warming.

Robert said...

Conductor,

Your analysis of "global warming" and period of active hurricane seasons is pretty much right on.

I'll mention something about the money to improve the levee system in N.O. Why is it that it's only the Bush administration that gets faulted? Did the people of Louisiana wake up in 2000 after 8 years of slumber and realize that the levees had to be strengthened? I think not.

Anonymous said...

Burning fossil fuels causes emissions. Emissions exacerbate global warming. We have been burning fossil fuels in those last 150 years you talked about at a exponentially increasing rate. Period. Ignoring mankind's influence in nature is denial. And while the US may have the most restrictive pollution controls (thanks to those "moonbat activists" you guys love to deride), it's also the biggest polluter and should set an example. It's not today's hurricane that Kyoto may ameliorate, it's the ones in 2030. But no, we are going to be riding Hummers happily into oblivion.

(Btw, by admitting there is a climatological phenomenon known as "global warming", you are ahead of the Bush administration.)

The global warming=earthquakes thing is somebody else's argument. I'm only pointing out to you that warmer ocean temperatures DO contribute to stronger hurricanes.

Ditto about the levees and the war spending - where did I say that? Obviously the inadequacy of the levees is not Bush's fault. I'm talking about the amount of resources (National Guard troops -2/3 of Lousiana's are overseas, something thats not supposed to happen- and things like mobile bridges, etc) and money that would be nice to have in case of a national emergency.

Every hurricane specialist I have read says that the frecuency and strenght of hurricanes are increasing over time. Every season is a new record. Check YOUR facts.

Henry Louis Gomez said...

Dude, I don't know how to say it any clearer. Global warming exists. It has existed for the last 10,000 years. The question how much does man contribute to it. There is no scientific certainty to answer that question.

My post was specifically addressing the ludicrous claims I've already heard. If you don't agree with those claims, congratulations but that doesn't mean they weren't made.

And I challenge you to find a source hurricane strength anf requency is increasing over time. Everything I've read incuding stuff from Dr. William Gray of the University of New Mexico who is well know for his predictions of hurricane seasons says that there are bust boom periods of Hurricane activity that have been well established over the past 100 years.

http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0508/feature4/

Robert said...

There's an accepted theory that the current increase in hurricane activity is part of a "multi-decadal" cycle lasting 20-30 years. The current cycle began in 1995. The 30 years preceeding 1995, including 1994, were predominantly below normal in activity. I don't think "global warming", at least as far as human contributions are concerned, changed drastically from 1994 to 2005.

Anonymous said...

here you go:
clim_14_908.2458_2468.tp

in this link you can download a pdf of a study (Knutson and Tuleya) widely cited. pretty heavy stuff for the layman - and yes, i understand it has been interpreted both ways and they caveat the heck out of it. nevertheless, this is their conclusion:

"Given these caveats, our simulation results incorporating ocean coupling continue to suggest that, with a CO2-induced warming, hurricanes will have the potential to reach greater intensities. The simulated surface wind intensities in our experiments are enhanced by roughly 13% to 110% in response to a CO2-induced tropical SST warming of 2.28–2.78C."

here's about global warming and whether or not human activities contribute to it:

http://www.ucsusa.org/global_environment/global_warming/page.cfm?pageID=497#5

you can also download the actual IPCC reports here: http://www.ipcc.ch/

it's an interesting read. may even be considered "scientific certainty".