Global warming's impact on hurricanes more complex than thought - AFP

Source: Agence France-Presse

Global warming's impact on hurricanes more complex than thought

1 hour, 16 minutes ago

PARIS (AFP) - Weather events that occur in the distant Pacific and
West Africa help determine the frequency of major hurricanes that
strike the Caribbean and West Atlantic, according to research
published on Thursday.

The study touches on one of the big puzzles about climate change:
Will global warming, by heating the seas that give hurricanes their
power, also make these storms more frequent?

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They found a remarkable link between these storms and records
elsewhere for the frequency of El Nino -- the buildup of warm water
in the East Pacific that has a knock-on effect on the weather
systems around the world -- and the intensity of monsoons in West
Africa.

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The new research, though, says heat alone is not the only factor
in hurricanes, for the atmospheric dynamics caused by El Nino and
the African jetstream also play a big role.

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Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070523/sc_afp/climatewarming_070523172903

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Source: Reuters

Killer hurricanes thrived in cool seas: study

By Timothy Gardner
51 minutes ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hurricanes over the past 5,000 years appear to
have been controlled more by El Nino and an African monsoon than warm
sea surface temperatures, such as those caused by global warming,
researchers said on Wednesday.

The study, published in the journal Nature, adds to the debate on whether
seas warmed by greenhouse gas emissions lead to more hurricanes, such
as those that bashed the Gulf of Mexico in 2005.

Some researchers say warmer seas appear to have contributed to more
intense hurricanes, while others disagree. The U.N. International Panel
on Climate Change said this year it was more likely than not that humans
contribute to a trend of increasingly intense hurricanes.

Frequent strong hurricanes thrived in the Western Atlantic during times
of weak El Ninos, or warming of surface waters of the Eastern Pacific
Ocean, and strong West African monsoons even when local seas were
cooler than now, the study said.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070523/sc_nm/weather_hurricanes_study_dc