Are Hurricanes Getting Stronger? Science May Finally Be Nearing Answer


"That's why, despite expectations that global warming will make hurricanes stronger—as well as massive societal consequences if more powerful storms are slamming coastlines—scientific authorities like the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have demurred on the hurricane/climate question. Most recently, the IPCC earlier this year said it had 'low confidence' that global warming is worsening hurricanes.

But just maybe, a new scientific paper has managed to get past this longstanding data problem. The study, just out in the Journal of Climate from hurricane and satellite expert Jim Kossin of the National Climatic Data Center and his colleagues, seeks to create a completely consistent database of hurricane satellite images that will finally allow for apples-to-apples comparisons. How? 'We can't take bad data and make it good, because that's adding information that we don't have,' explains Kossin. 'But we can take the good information and make it worse.'"

Chris Mooney reports for Mother Jones/Climate Desk December 16, 2013.

Source: ClimateDesk/Mother Jones, 12/16/2013