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Atlantic Hurricanes Will Increase In Intensity, Frequency and Size Due To Global Warming
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Hurricane Intensity Could Grow:
By Macushla N. Pinder -
Nassau, Bahamas:


If a former chief meteorologist’s prediction holds true, hurricanes in the Atlantic will increase in intensity, frequency and size due to global warming. According to Halson Moultrie, unlike 30 years ago, today’s hurricanes now span an estimated 750 miles.

"This is why a hurricane can be way down in Inagua and you can still feel the effects in New Providence," Mr. Moultrie explained when he appeared as a guest on Love 97’s daily talk show "Issues of the Day" on Tuesday.

Hurricane Ike, now a category one storm, roared through the southeast Bahamas early Sunday morning, damaging a number of structures and snapping power and phone lines mainly on the island of Inagua.

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, who led a delegation down to the Inagua on Tuesday to assess the destruction there, has said that the damage could easily amount to millions.

He also acknowledged that there would likely be a shift in the government’s spending priorities as a result.

However, on the upside, Hurricane Ike could not be blamed for the loss of any lives in The Bahamas.

The same could not be said in Haiti where major bridges reportedly crumbled, roadways were left flooded, an estimated one million people left homeless and hundreds have been reported dead.

After battering Cuba for three straight days, Hurricane Ike ravaged homes, killing at least four people – two men were killed removing an antenna from a roof, a woman died when her home collapsed and a man was killed by a falling tree.

Reports are that an estimated 1.2 million people were also forced to evacuate.

When asked by host Wendall Jones if, given global warming, residents in hurricane-prone areas could ever be well prepared, Mr. Moultrie gave a grim response.

"I would say with the advancement of technology, you can actually get information to residents in remote areas, but even with this in place, there is only so much preparation one can do," he said.

"If those buildings were not structurally sound prior to the hurricane descending on the area, no matter how much you batten up, you are still going to experience severe damage once there is a category four, category five storm," he said.

Mr. Moultrie went on to suggest that the concept of The Bahamas being protected from hurricanes is "overstated."

"It has been proven that with global warming the sea surface temperature has increased by two to two and a half degrees. This means that the hurricane season can start earlier and last longer because what happens is that you need a threshold temperature in the sea before a hurricane can form," Mr. Moultrie said.

"Once the sea reaches that temperature, it just has to be sustained for a long period because we normally say June to November, but we’ve now seen hurricanes going into January or start before the hurricane system in May. A lot of them end out in the subtropics and don’t affect land but they form. That’s because the sea surface temperature is still so warm, it’s favorable for hurricane formation."

Last year’s Atlantic hurricane season was a particularly active one which forced the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to use names from the Greek alphabet after exhausting the English alphabet.

"There are now many, many more storms that are much larger," he said.

"If we take shortcuts or use the lower or cheaper grade (building) material that seem to be the patented behavior in The Bahamas today, we can expect that even the best built homes will receive some damage especially in a category four, category five storm."

September 10, 2008

September 10, 2008 | 1:33 PM Comments  0 comments

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