SocraticGadfly: Atlantic signs of global warming

May 28, 2010

Atlantic signs of global warming

More global warming, more hurricanes this year?

Everybody's talking about NOAA's prediction of about 18 Atlantic named storms this year, with at least eight of them hurricanes. But, lost in the news, perhaps, is the why:
In April the average temperature in the tropical North Atlantic was 1.38 Celsius degrees above average, or about 2.5 Fahrenheit degrees, by far the largest anomaly ever recorded.

That is significant, said Fred Schmude, a forecaster with the Houston-based private weather company ImpactWeather, because scientists have tracked these waters for 62 years.

In those 744 months, the recorded value has exceeded the long-term average by 1 or more Celsius degrees just five times. Three of those five times have occurred in February, March and April of this year.

“Not only are we breaking records, but we are shattering them,” Schmude said.
So much for Faux News' now-disproven global cooling claims during this winter's big East Coast snowstorms.

Yes, part of this is cyclical. But, the highs are hitting new high spots. That's not just a cycle.

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