Studies Multiply and Preparation is All:
"Just Say No To Hurricanes" As Public Policy.
A post here yesterday focused on reports and studies, and funding of activities other than Hurricane preparedness and risk reduction before the 2007 Hurricane season begins on June 1, 2007. The magazine Nature also presents a publicly accessible news report about the coming Hurricane season including publicity by NOAA, in Alexandra Witze, "Torrid Hurricane Season In Store," Nature, 23 May 2007. For a fee, the magazine will allow internet access to this separately published study: Jeffrey P. Donnelly & Jonathan D. Woodruff, "Intense Hurricane Activity Over the Past 5,000 Years Controlled by El Nino and the West African Monsoon," 24 May 2007, www.nature.com. The new study is reported in Andrew C. Revkin, "Study Finds Hurricanes Frequent in Some Cooler Periods," New York Times Online, May 24, 2007.
The reported focus of the new study is on the effect of natural variation on the number and intensity of Hurricanes over time, without ocean temperatures varying greatly. The authors reportedly conclude that intense warming activity has a great effect on the intensity of the resulting storms in any case.
The newspaper article further reports that studies of catastrophic storms multiply and there seems to be universal agreement on three things: One, devastating Hurricanes are caused by a combination of warming oceans and natural variations; Two, risk is rising to coastal areas of the United States, and Three, government action to reduce the exposure of people, homes and businesses to this risk is very small.
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