Since the last hurricane related post, some news has occurred on the hurricanes front. Nature Geosciences article by Knutson et al. (2010) discussing the linkages between tropical cyclones and climate change / global warming — as an update to the IPCC AR4 statements Whether the characteristics of tropical cyclones have changed or will change in […]
Dr. Kerry Emanuel from MIT wades into the climate change debate with an opinion piece in the Boston Globe. Dr. Emanuel has not been particularly outspoken on the climate change topic but has from time to time participated in debates and forums that have provided an opportunity to opine. On the heels of Hurricane Katrina, […]
Figures: Top: Eastern Pacific Warming (EPW) Atlantic storm tracks for seasons indicated on the plot. EPW is the “traditional El Nino”. Bottom left: Central Pacific Warming (CPW) or the “new” El Nino described in the paper and right: Eastern Pacific Cooling or La Nina. Track legend: [TS,Hurr,Major,Cat5]:[blue,green,red,pink] A new paper by Kim, Webster, and Curry […]
With the North Atlantic hurricane season still waiting for a named storm, and the rest of the globe cyclonically challenged during the past several months, it is a good time to catch up on the research end of things. In terms of papers during the past 6-8 months, the amount of tropical cyclone and climate […]
With the North Atlantic hurricane season officially starting in a couple weeks (June 1), but possibly getting a head start with a developing low-pressure system in the Bahamas, considerable attention will be paid by the media to each and every storm that gets a name. In the North Atlantic, a name is granted to a […]
Image by Getty Images via Daylife Here’s a personal beef about a small point in the hurricane debate which CA readers may recall, which came to mind out of the EPA finding and Technical Support Document, which have a LOT to say about hurricanes and which rely relying on CCSP 3-3. (Perhaps I’ll review this […]
Post by Ryan N. Maue, Florida State University COAPS Global hurricane activity has decreased to the lowest level in 30 years. Figure: Global 24-month running sum time-series of Accumulated Cyclone Energy updated through April 21, 2009. Very important: global hurricane activity includes the 80-90 tropical cyclones that develop around the world during a given calendar […]
The North Atlantic hurricane season has nearly come to an end. As November progresses, the chance of another storm developing becomes smaller. Climatology (last 60 years) tells us that roughly 4 in 10 years see a November storm formation including 4 in 2005 (Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon), Hurricane Michelle (2001), Hurricane Lenny (1999), and Hurricane […]
Sept 9: Updated to follow Hurricane Ike, and possible US impacts in the next 4-5 days The North Atlantic tropics are becoming very active as the calendar approaches the climatological peak of the season (September 11). With high sea-surface temperatures and generally favorable atmospheric conditions (i.e. low vertical shear), every circulation or puff of convection […]
A new peer-reviewed paper has been published in an American Meteorology Society journal that raises many more questions on the linkages between hurricane activity and global warming. Eric Berger at the Houston Chronicle (SciGuy) did the leg-work and is the first (and only) mainstream media outlet to report the findings of Emanuel et al. (2008) […]
Climate Audit 
Kerry Emanuel Boston Globe Opinion: Climate Changes Are Proven Fact
Dr. Kerry Emanuel from MIT wades into the climate change debate with an opinion piece in the Boston Globe. Dr. Emanuel has not been particularly outspoken on the climate change topic but has from time to time participated in debates and forums that have provided an opportunity to opine. On the heels of Hurricane Katrina, […]