Extreme Consequences

They’ve been all over the news lately. They’ve driven millions from their homes, and caused millions of dollars in damage. They’ve even stolen the spotlight from some of the most famous American politicians. And, oh yeah, that’s just this year. They are hurricanes. Hurricane season is something dreaded, yet dealt with by most of the south eastern United States. Every year dozens of storms come, with an average of 4-6 turning into hurricanes, but only 1-2 of those being a serious threat. Hurricane season officially started back on June 1st, but only recently are any hurricanes getting attention. Even so, both of those hurricanes where taken seriously, and both caused serious damage. People are starting to realize that there seems to be more serious hurricanes, more frequently. The real problem is that they’re correct. When looking at the evidence, you see that the number of category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years.

“What changed in the US with Katrina, was a feeling that we have entered a period of consequences…” –Al Gore

But why is this? While many people would argue about what is causing it, many scientists now believe the culprit is none other than global warming. Global warming makes the oceans warmer, and warm water is the fuel that drives hurricanes across seas, eventually smashing them into the land that gets in their way.

Hurricanes aren’t the only thing we have to worry about either. With the earth slowly getting hotter, we can expect an array of extreme weather attacks, says organizations like edf.org, which stands for Environmental Defense Fund. Imagine massive wildfires being sparked from forests of what is essentially dry tinder. Droughts are likely, because warmer weather causes water to evaporate much faster. And all of those put together means heavier rainfall less often, which could result in flooding as disastrous as what happened to New Orleans. But even with evidence slowly mounting that these two things, extreme weather and global warming, could be linked, you rarely hear the two used together.

So, the battle rages on about whether or not global warming is the cause of these super hurricanes. Maybe it isn’t the cause. But I believe it sounds like a better idea to try and stop it this way, by fighting global warming itself, even if it is wrong, than to just wait and hope the hurricanes stop coming.