Posted: 10/28/2004
Environmental Activists Suggest Bush Responsible For Hurricanes
October 28, 2004 – A coalition of environmental activists have purchased billboard advertisements in Florida, a region victimized by a severe hurricane season, that claim President George W. Bush’s policies could result in stronger, more frequent hurricanes. H. Sterling Burnett, senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), responded that this was “one of the worst cases of junk science demagoguery in recent memory.”
“These ads leave the impression that George Bush can control the weather, and that he is to blame for hurricanes that ravage the state,” said Burnett. “This ludicrous charge flies in the face all scientific evidence.”
According to the NCPA, this year’s particularly severe and costly hurricane season is the beginning of a completely natural, not at all unusual, multi-decadal cycle that scientists have monitored for more than 100 years. For approximately the past 25 years, the U.S. has experienced a relative lull in hurricane activity. Unfortunately for those living near the coasts, we are coming out of that cycle and into an active cycle like those experienced from approximately 1930 through 1950. Indeed, in the 1940’s 23 hurricanes, eight of them category 3 or higher, hit the U.S. mainland.
Hurricanes are heat engines with their severity being driven by the differences in temperature between the heat source and the heat sink—the smaller the difference, the more severe the storm season. Scientists and engineers since the time of James Watt have understood this.
Computer models that predict global warming predict very little warming in the tropics and large warming near the poles. That is, they predict lower gradients, therefore fewer and less-violent storms. This is why , the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – considered by most global warming-theory proponents to be the authoritative scientific body researching the causes and consequences of global warming – have repeatedly stated that human caused global warming is unlikely to cause more or more severe hurricanes in the future.
“One can only surmise that these activists are trying to capitalize on the suffering of Floridians to push a partisan political agenda,” said Burnett. “This is a particularly callous move that should be greeted with contempt.”