Global Warming Wake Up Call for U.S. Gulf, Atlantic Coasts
Posted on August 27, 2008
“The big picture is that global warming is putting hurricanes on steroids,” declared climate scientist Dr. Amanda Staudt of the National Wildlife Federation, one of the country’s largest conservation groups.
Windspeeds could increase 13 percent and rainfall could increase 31 percent, Staudt warned at the launch of her new report last week.
“As so many grapple with Tropical Storm Fay’s landfall in the United States, our thoughts and prayers are with those in harm’s way,” she said.
Now weakened from a Tropical Storm to a Tropical Depression, Fay will be pouring down rain in Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, eastern Tennessee, Georgia and parts of the Carolinas most of Tuesday and Wednesday, say National Weather Service forecasters. Fay has been in Florida and the Deep South since August 18.
While weary Florida and Gulf Coast residents endure yet another round of flooding, destruction and power outages, the latest science connecting hurricanes and global warming suggests more of the same is yet to come, said Dr. Staudt.
“Although no single weather event can be attributed to global warming, it’s critical to understand that a warming climate is supplying the very conditions that fuel the strongest storms,” she said, predicting higher wind speeds, more precipitation, and bigger storm surges in the coming decades.
The destructive potential of tropical storms in the North Atlantic has increased by about 50 percent since the 1970s, Staudt states in the report.
And the heights of big waves along the eastern United States have increased by 20 percent during hurricane season since the late 1970s, augmenting the overall risk to coastal communities and wildlife habitats.
» Filed Under Climate, Environmental Problem, Global Warming, environmental issue
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Global Warming Wake Up Call for U.S. Gulf, Atlantic Coasts…
“The big picture is that global warming is putting hurricanes on steroids,” declared climate scientist Dr. Amanda Staudt of the National Wildlife Federation, one of the country’s largest conservation groups….