XTREME WEATHER MEETS XTREME MEDIA BUBBLE

[farmwx]

When it comes to weather news, it's been all-hurricane-all-the-time -- and under the pressure of storm after storm, news language has escalated. "Bizarre" and "strange" have been two recent words of choice in describing Florida's weather disasters. Yesterday, I heard a CBS radio announcer complain that "Mother Nature's piling on"; while the "chief meteorologist" for a local Florida TV station recently wrote, "But I think I echo the sentiment of many when I say, ‘Come on, Mother Nature, you are out of control!'"

When "Ivan the Terrible" threatened New Orleans, correspondents there had a field day discussing whether the city might literally disappear beneath the waves -- this was referred to as the "Atlantis scenario." Then there were those dramatic shots of gridlocked highways filled with fleeing refugees -- whether from New Orleans or the Florida Keys; there were the pans of massive post-storm destruction; the close-ups of weeping survivors; the dramatic tales of rescue; the interviews with people who had "lost everything"; the discussions of President Bush's trips to "comfort" the survivors; and above all, the endless shots of correspondents in rain slickers in front of dripping camera lenses trying to keep their balance in the pelting rain and swirling wind, shots which have become the sine qua non of hurricane coverage in recent years.

And yet something was missing. For the first time in history, four hurricanes – Charley, Frances, Ivan (the Terrible), and now Jeanne -- have smacked into Florida's long coastline one after another in a single hurricane season (not yet over), and here's the strangest thing of all: Forget that in March Brazil experienced the South Atlantic's first hurricane ever -- Brazilian meteorologists didn't even know what to name it; or that the Atlantic coast of Canada got whacked by Hurricane Juan, "the storm of the century," late last year (and the Canadian government suspects a link to global warming); or that the United States has already experienced a record number of tornados in 2004; or that Japan has had the worst season of typhoons in memory; or that Xtreme weather events have increased in recent years across the planet, including massive flooding in Europe, Bangladesh, and China, and a deathly summer heat wave that struck Europe in 2003. Forget the rising sea levels and the increased melt-off toward the poles. Forget that the head of at least one (hated) country in the path of Hurricane Ivan -- Fidel Castro -- was ready to warn his people about global warming and hurricanes, or that the Bush administration's closest ally, Tony Blair of Britain, made a major speech, widely ignored in the American press, labeling global warming a danger beyond compare. ("What is now plain is that the emission of greenhouse gases…is causing global warming at a rate that began as significant, has become alarming and is simply unsustainable in the long-term. And by long-term I do not mean centuries ahead. I mean within the lifetime of my children certainly; and possibly within my own. And by unsustainable, I do not mean a phenomenon causing problems of adjustment. I mean a challenge so far-reaching in its impact and irreversible in its destructive power, that it alters radically human existence.") Forget all that, and just focus for a moment on the fact that it took almost to the moment Jeanne hit Florida for our media to produce a spate of pieces that even speculated in passing about possible links between the hurricanes in Florida and global warming -- and almost all of those articles denied that there were any connections at all.

[drudd1]

While I indeed think that global warming is a problem that is rapidly getting out of control, the pattern that set up the hurricanes that we have had this year is not new. This is a cycle that has occurred before, and after this one is over, will occur again in the future. That is why you will continue to see global warming discredited as the cause of this years pattern of storms. Did it have something to do with it? A convincing argument can be made both ways.

[sunflowerkist]

While I indeed think that global warming is a problem that is rapidly getting out of control, the pattern that set up the hurricanes that we have had this year is not new. This is a cycle that has occurred before, and after this one is over, will occur again in the future. That is why you will continue to see global warming discredited as the cause of this years pattern of storms. Did it have something to do with it? A convincing argument can be made both ways.

As long as no one suggests that global warming is the fault of the people of earth, I will buy it. There is a volcano about to errupt this weekend or in a few days that will make the greenhouse effect a moot point. Nature corrects itself whether humans like it or not.

[canegrl04]

People who want to pin it on global warming apparently weren't around in the 50s and 60s when a season like 2004 was common. In 1964,3 hurricanes hit Florida.

[drudd1]

Good point sunflowerkist! While indeed, we are in a warming phase, geological evidence shows that this has happened before.....long before man had any input. Just as the we are in a pattern that allows for the tropical activity we have had this season, we are also in a pattern of global warming. Both have happened before, totally independent of each other, and will occur in the future, irregardless of what man does or does not do.

[Stormsfury]

Volcanoes are nature's cooling agent ... and the fact is since Pinatubo, we haven't had a major eruption of a volcano that could lower global temperatures by 1º ... Mt. St. Helens isn't quite capable of producing global cooling ... even with the 1980 eruption (there's a link on PurdueWx's thread in US Weather Watch) ...

Otherwise, overall longwave patterns generally can last a few weeks to a few months or more sometimes, and since we saw 12 TC's develop in only a 6-7 week period of time, with the LONGWAVE pattern setup, it was favorable for these to be steered into Florida ...

Florida gets on average about a 1/3 of all landfalling hurricanes, and around ½ of the major landfalls ... but by even these standards, what occurred with all the TC activity striking the state this year is an anomaly, a fluke of nature ... but sometimes, we see little quirks of a cycle, like drought busting rains, where one location goes long periods of below normal rainfall, and then suddenly a supersoaker occurred that dumps 9" of rain in 3 hours or something along the line ... but to reiterate, what has occurred in Florida this year was NOT the typical norm.

SF

[gulfcoaster53]

We've all been hearing about global warming for a long time. Much of the information floated is junk but some of it is real. Put me in the camp that believes that whatever warming is occurring is a natural cycle. Having said that, there do appear to be some disturbing possibilities, especially regarding the Gulf Stream. I've been watching the attached link for a couple of years now. New information is posted periodically. Spend some time reading about how the decreasing levels of salinity in the NE Atlantic may be altering the density of the water in the Gulf Stream, which eventually will bring a halt to one of the world's major "air conditioners". The implications of this conveyor belt halting are not pleasant.

http://www.whoi.edu/institutes/occi/cur ... limate.htm

http://www.whoi.edu/institutes/occi/cur ... rruns.html

[msbee]

As long as no one suggests that global warming is the fault of the people of earth, I will buy it. There is a volcano about to errupt this weekend or in a few days that will make the greenhouse effect a moot point. Nature corrects itself whether humans like it or not.

I don't disagree with you totally. I think global warming is part of a a natural process but to imply that humans ALSO are not at fault is leaving an important part of the equation out.
There are many things in nature that we cannot control but ,that which we can control and take care of ,we should.
Just because there are natural cycles, that does not mean humans can be left off the hook.
We need to be helping instaed of hurting, and I do believe humans are making the natural cycle of global warming worse and more deadly.