Be Prepared
Now that Hurricane Katrina has moved inland, it's time for the next stage of preparation - preparing for the onslaught of global warming activists ready to use New Orleans' devastation to justify government intervention in the economy. Heck, some global warming activists tried to blame the earthquake induced SE Asian Tsunami on global warming.
For the last couple of years, the meme has circulated that hurricanes are getting worse, and that this is a predictable result of global warming. More destructive hurricanes may or may not be a result of global warming -- I don't know, and I challenge any climatologist who thinks they can make a definitive prediction on hurricane forces based on a half degree change in global temperatures.
What is fairly clear is that hurricanes are not actually getting worse. Damage from them is getting worse, but that is more of a function of building a lot of expensive structures close to the water over the last 30 years. And it is particularly true in New Orleans, which relies on massive pumps operating 24 hours a day to keep the city above water on a good day. Patrick Michaels has more on the hurricane meme here, including a disturbing tale of the religion of global warming trumping good science. Where I am on global warming here. More on global warming activism overcoming the scientific method here. I will never forget this quote from Steve Schneider of the NOAA:
We have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic
statements, and make little mention of any doubts we have. Each of us
has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and
being honest.
