Saturday, August 04, 2007

Hurricane boost 'due to warm sea'

By Matt McGrath
BBC environmental reporter

Hurricane Jeanne over Florida, September 2004
Hurricanes have become more frequent over the past century
A new analysis of Atlantic hurricanes says their numbers have doubled over the last century.http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44027000/jpg/_44027477_jeanne203ap.jpg
clipped from news.bbc.co.uk
Scientific analyses in recent years suggest hurricane numbers have increased since the mid-1980s.
This new study, published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in London, looks at the frequency of these storms from 1900 to the present and it says about twice as many form each year now compared to 100 years ago.
The authors say that man-made climate change, which has increased the temperature of the sea surface, is the major factor behind the increase in numbers.
Dr Greg Holland from the United States National Centre for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, who authored the report.
"Approximately 60%, and possibly even 70% of what we are seeing in the last decade can be attributed directly to greenhouse warming," he said.
Experts say that 2007 will be a very active season with nine hurricanes forecast, of which five are expected to be intense.
Thunder clouds surround the edges of these storms and they can wreak devastation on people and property when they hit land
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