TheRock17We are now in August and with no hurricane to date. As I asked back on April 30th, what do the Brits know about forecasting tropical hurricanes? AOS is doing just fine without another Katrina. Thank you very much.
Global Warming May Suppress Atlantic Hurricanes
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
OK, now what's this about global warming suppressing hurricanes? Some studies have suggested that warmer seawater temperatures are positively correlated with tropical storm/hurricane strength. However, is that the whole story? NATURE magazine 26 April 2007 issue included a brief summary of research results that appeared in the American Geophysical Union's Geophysical Research Letters earlier this year. The new finding concerns wind shear.Increased wind shear has been shown to inhibit tropical storm/hurricane formation and growth because it interferes with the ventilation pattern storms require for rapid growth. In the NATURE summary, it says that "wind shear ... can tear apart storms before they intensify." The research was conducted by Gabriel Vecchi of NOAA in Princeton, N.J., and Brian Soden of the University of Miami, Florida. The study suggests that wind shear will increase in the Atlantic Ocean. This would inhibit hurricanes.