In a news
release,
the National Wildlife Federation’s climatologist Amanda Staudt warns
that “this hurricane season is a stark reminder of what science tells us
to expect from a new era of stronger hurricanes fueled by global
warming: higher wind speeds, more precipitation, and bigger storm surge
in the coming decades.”
Scientific findings she notes:
“The big picture is that global warming is allowing hurricanes to pack
a bigger punch. Over this century, windspeeds could increase 13
percent and rainfall could increase 31 percent.”
“Even storms that do not reach category 3 and above will hit harder
because they will likely bring more rain than a similar storm would
have just a few decades ago. It is a law of physics that warmer air is
able to carry more water.”
“Both Tropical Storm Fay and Hurricane Gustav brought costly flooding,
with rainfall totals exceeding 10 inches in some locations. As the
remnants of Gustav continue to bring heavy rains, much of the lower
Mississippi valley remains under flood watch.”
“We must restore the coastal wetlands, lowlands, and barrier islands
that provide the first line of defense against hurricanes,” advises Dr.
Staudt. “For example, about half of the wetlands around New Orleans have
been lost in recent years. Because scientists estimate that every mile
of healthy wetlands can trim about 3-9 inches off a storm surge – and an
acre of wetlands is estimated to reduce hurricane damage by $3,300 – we
must restore these wetlands.”
For more, read the full NWF
report
on the influence of global warming on the destruction caused by tropical
storms.
President Bush exploited this morning’s press briefing on the “follow-up
efforts” to Hurricane Gustav to attack Congress about lifting the
offshore drilling moratorium. Stating that “what happens after the storm
passes is as important as what happens prior to the storm arriving,” he
made the declaration that “our discussion here today is about
energy.”
Bush wasn’t referring to the 1.4 million
Louisianans
who have lost power due to the storm’s destructive force, and chose not
to mention the 102 deaths caused by
Gustav.
Instead, he went on the attack:
I know that Congress has been on recess for a while, but this issue
hasn’t gone away. And, uh, this storm should not cause members of
Congress say well, we don’t need to address our energy independence.
It ought to cause the Congress to step up their need to address our
dependence on foreign oil. And one place to do so is to give us a
chance to explore in environmentally friendly ways on the Outer
Continental Shelf.
Watch it:
MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough
were both floored by Bush’s decision “to use another hurricane in
Louisiana to promote offshore drilling at this point,” after he
“performed so poorly during Hurricane Katrina.”
Let’s be very clear. Number one: There’s no such thing as American
oil any more. These are multinational corporations. If you let
multinational corporations drill all this oil, they’re going to sell
it to the highest bidder, whether it’s China, or India, it doesn’t
matter. Why would we throw away America’s beauty chasing the lost
drops of oil, so multinational corporations can sell it to India and
China?
And people also got to remember, we didn’t stop this as an
environmental issue. We didn’t stop offshore drilling for the
duckies and the fishies. We stopped it because coastline communities
were suffering. Because the property owners, the children who live
in those coastline communities – not when there were oil spills – but
every day, when your child goes out to swim, he comes back covered in
oil, you have to use gasoline to get the oil off your child. That was
happening coast to coast