Reply To: More hurricanes as result of global warming?

#4498
Martin W
Participant

    I’ve seen that numbers of west Pacific typhoons may decrease with global warming – as wind shear increases, so it’s harder for them to form. Now, first news I’ve noticed that maybe this will be true for Atlantic – albeit contentious. Must still wonder if warmer seas will lead to more strong storms (ie, powerful trop cyclones) – ie once they start forming, tend to become powerful, maybe fast.

    Quote:
    Global warming could reduce how many hurricanes hit the United States, according to a new federal study that clashes with other research. The new study is the latest in a contentious scientific debate over how man-made global warming may affect the intensity and number of hurricanes. In it, researchers link warming waters, especially in the Indian and Pacific oceans, to increased vertical wind shear in the Atlantic Ocean near the United States. Wind shear — a change in wind speed or direction — makes it hard for hurricanes to form, strengthen and stay alive. So that means "global warming may decrease the likelihood of hurricanes making landfall in the United States," according to researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Miami Lab and the University of Miami. … Critics say Wang’s study is based on poor data that was rejected by scientists on the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. They said that at times only one in 10 North Atlantic hurricanes hit the U.S. coast and the data reflect only a small percentage of storms around the globe.

    Study: Warming May Cut US Hurricane Hits