[Published by Royal Society of London] Study blames climate change for rise in hurricanes

Study blames climate change for rise in hurricanes | 29 Jul 2007 23:01:11 GMT | Source: Reuters | By Jim Loney

MIAMI, July 29 (Reuters) - The number of Atlantic hurricanes in an average season has doubled in the last century due in part to warmer seas and changing wind patterns caused by global warming, according to a study released on Sunday.

Hurricane researchers have debated for years whether climate change caused by greenhouse gases from cars, factories and other human activity is resulting in more, and more intense, tropical storms and hurricanes.

The new study, published online in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, said the increased numbers of tropical storms and hurricanes in the last 100 years is closely related to a 1.3-degree Fahrenheit rise in sea surface temperatures.

The influential U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in a report this year warning that humans contribute to global warming, said it was "more likely than not" that people also contribute to a trend of increasingly intense hurricanes.

In the new study, conducted by Greg Holland of the National Center for Atmospheric Research and Peter Webster of Georgia Institute of Technology, researchers found three periods since 1900 when the average number of Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes increased sharply, and then leveled off and remained steady. ...

Illegal Aliens Costs Illinois Citizens $3.5 Billion Annually

Illegal Aliens Costs Illinois Citizens $3.5 Billion Annually

While local politicians, including Gov. Rod Blagojevich, work to increase the benefits and services the state provides to illegal aliens, a new study by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) finds...