Hurricane warning

Those of us who mentioned global warming as a possible factor in the apparent increasing strength of hurricanes like Katrina were peremptorily pooh-poohed by the wingnut class.

It seems though, that we may have to trade our tinfoil hats for mortarboards:

Warming ocean temperatures appear to be fueling stronger, more intense hurricanes around the world, a new study suggests...

The study finds that the increase in hurricane intensity coincides with a rise in sea surface temperatures around the world of about 1ºF (0.5ºC) between 1970 and 2004.

Writing in tomorrow's issue of the journal Science, the study's authors stop shy of pinning the increase in hurricane intensity on global warming. To do so would require a longer historical period of study and a better understanding of hurricane dynamics, they say.

But in an interview with National Geographic News, the study's lead author, Peter Webster, said, "I'm prepared to make an attribution to global warming." [Emphasis mine-CK]

This being the case, might I suggest that the appropriate prayer on Katrina Prayer Day be for sane fossil fuel policies.