Warm My Globe
by Mike GodeskyLast week, even as Ivan was making its way up the east coast, scientists told Congress the increased strength in hurricanes was a result of global warming, and even more powerful storms could be expected in the future. According to the Reuters article, “Global warming will increase the temperature of ocean water that fuels hurricanes, leading to stronger winds, heavier rains, and larger storm surges.” So for those of you still wondering whether or not global warming is real, consider Ivan your wake up call.
In other apocalyptic news, scientists discovered blue mussels growing off of Norway’s Svalbard archipelago last month. The mussels usually grow in warmer waters but were found just 800 miles from the North Pole. Scientists say that this is further evidence that the Arctic is warming. And it’s not just the mussels. “Inuit peoples in Canada, for instance, are seeing robins for the first time, and hunters are falling through previously solid sea ice. In Scandinavia, birch trees are moving northward into previously icy areas used for reindeer herding.”
Normally such cataclysmic changes in the environment might be enough to worry people. But not in America. We have more important things to worry about, like how to color code our terror.
That’s why this November I’m voting for Roland Emmerich.
[…] But to deny the role of global warming in this is ludicrous. While they’re certainly correct that terrible storms have happened in the past without an anthropogenic role, it’s an entirely irrelevant point. Almost a year ago exactly, Michael wrote a piece on this very blog titled, “Warm My Globe,” about Hurricane Ivan–a storm similar to Katrina in many respects–and how we could expect more storms of even greater intensity (like Katrina….) in the future if we continued warming the planet. Scientists studying global climate change have warned, clearly and consistently, for years, that more hurricanes and more powerful hurricanes are the inevitable result of global warming. […]