I have researched this topic and the more I learn, the more I realize how complicated this issue is. I will start by saying that I do not lean either way. Well, more accurately, I feel that it is a cycle, and I also believe that we are trashing the planet. I am not a tree hugger, nor do I believe that we can continue to abuse this planet indefinitely. I do see global weather changes. We have been hearing the words “hottest ever, coldest ever, wettest ever, driest ever, windiest ever, stronger than ever, more storms than ever� a lot lately. We have been shattering daily, monthly, and yearly, temperature and rainfall records. Severe weather is becoming more and more likely, no matter where you live. I have also noticed that we are having great droughts in the US, however, other places are in even worse shape. Take Australia for instance, they are having a record drought, the there agriculture industry is being decimated.

I will be posting news stories in this form as I get them. Please feel free to reply as often as you like. Also feel free to paste in additional news stories or excerpts from scientific papers and reports.
_________________
Please Visit Our Family of Informational Websites
www.HurricaneChaseExtreme.com
www.HurricaneIan.com
www.SpaceMysteries.com
www.SpaceWeather.HurricaneIan.com
www.WeatherBookStore.com

Last edited by hurricaneian on Thu Jan 11, 2007 1:35 am; edited 1 time in total

Scientists Say 2007 May Be Warmest Yet
Deepening drought in Australia. Stronger typhoons in Asia. Floods in Latin America. British climate scientists predict that a resurgent El Nino climate trend combined with higher levels of greenhouse gases could touch off a fresh round of ecological disasters — and make 2007 the world’s hottest year on record.

“Even a moderate (El Nino) warming event is enough to push the global temperatures over the top,� said Phil Jones, director of the Climatic Research unit at the University of East Anglia.

The warmest year on record is 1998, when the average global temperature was 1.2 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the long-term average of 57 degrees. Though such a change appears small, incremental differences can, for example, add to the ferocity of storms by evaporating more steam off the ocean.

There is a 60 percent chance that the average global temperature for 2007 will match or break the record, Britain’s Meteorological Office said Thursday. The consequences of the high temperatures could be felt worldwide.

El Nino, which is now under way in the Pacific Ocean and is expected to last until May, occurs irregularly. But when it does, winters in Southeast Asia tend to become milder, summers in Australia get drier, and Pacific storms can be more intense. The UN’s Food Aid Organization has warned that rising temperatures could wreak agricultural havoc.

In Australia, which is struggling through its worst drought on record, the impact on farmers could be devastating. The country has already registered its smallest wheat harvest in a decade, food prices are rising, and severe water restrictions have put thousands of farmers at risk of bankruptcy.

In other cases, El Nino’s effects are more ambiguous. Rains linked to the phenomenon led to bumper crops in Argentina in 1998, but floods elsewhere in Latin America devastated subsistence farmers.

El Nino also can do some good. It tends to take the punch out of the Atlantic hurricane season by generating crosswinds that can rip the storms apart — good news for Florida’s orange growers, for example. “The short-term effects of global warming on crop production are very uneven,� said Daniel Hillel, a researcher at Columbia University’s Center for Climate Systems Research. “I warn against making definitive predictions regarding any one season’s weather.�

What is clear is that the cumulative effect of El Nino and global warming are taking the Earth’s temperatures to record heights. “El Nino is an independent variable,� Jones said. “But the underlying trends in the warming of the Earth is almost certainly a result of the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.�

Another more immediate effect of the rising temperatures may be political.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard is already under fire for refusing to link his country’s drought to global warming. In Britain, Friends of the Earth campaign director Mike Childs said the weather service’s 2007 prediction “underlined the gap between the government’s rhetoric and action.�

Other environmental groups said the new report added weight to the movement to control greenhouse gases. It came a day after the weather service reported that 2006 had been Britain’s warmest year since 1659, and three months after Sir Nicholas Stern, a senior government economist, estimated that the effects of climate change could eventually cost nations 5 percent to 20 percent of global gross domestic product each year.

Figures for 2006 are not yet complete, but the weather service said temperatures were high enough to rank among the top 10 hottest years on record. ap

It has been a year for wild weather

Wednesday, January 10, 2007
By GEOFF CUNNINGHAM Jr.
gcunninghamcitizen.com


While a lack of cold weather and snow at the start of this winter has pleased some and vexed winter sports enthusiasts, it's characteristic of a wild year of weather in the Lakes Region, with the current temperatures being driven by conditions far off in the Atlantic.

It doesn't take a genius for one to notice that, to date, this winter has been anything but winter-like.

It also doesn't require a photographic memory to recall that 2006 was one of the wettest of all time, with close to 19 inches more rain than usual.

In recent weeks temperatures have regularly risen into the 40s and 50s, bringing a noticeable lack of snow that has raised questions about many local winter sporting events.

On Tuesday the Laconia Parks and Recreation Department announced the cancellation of the planned Jan. 13 Winter Carnival, for obvious reasons.

Local meteorologist Russell Hobby said December temperatures in Laconia were 7.5 degrees above the average of 26.2 Fahrenheit — a number based on more than 100 years of statistics.

Hobby said the November temperatures were 5.5 degrees above average.

During the same month, the City on the Lakes received 12.8 fewer inches of snow than the monthly average of 18.1 inches of white stuff, which tells you how happy snowmobilers and skiers are currently.

Conditions in the Lakes Region have fallen in line with a larger situation across the state.

New Hampshire State Climatologist David Brown said December was the warmest on record in Concord with an average temperature of 33.9 F. and he concluded a year that was one of the warmest ever in the state.

"It really boils down to the fact that the jet stream has been far to the north, over the eastern half of the country, including New England. That has really been the case since the beginning of December," explained Brown.

Brown said the jet stream serves as a rough boundary between the polar air and the more tropical currents in the south.

"Anytime it shifts north, you create a situation where more warm air can make its way into our area," said Brown.

New Hampshire certainly has been getting more than its share of unseasonably warm weather.

"It's pretty unusual and one of the reason it happens is [the weather] is responding to how high and low pressure is out in the Atlantic," said Brown.

Brown said the recent warm weather has been driven by a high-pressure cell oscillating out in the Atlantic Ocean.

"The system is basically in the north-central Atlantic Ocean with low pressure near Iceland," said Brown.

The climate expert said some people might be surprise how distant weather systems can drive conditions in New England.

"We call it teleconnections ... It's that remote connection that creates a seesaw [effect]," said Brown.

Brown said the recent warm weather does not mean that New Hampshire will not have cold weather later, as conditions can change rapidly.

"We've seen a dominant pattern for the first part of the winter, but there is no guarantee it will continue. At some point, the pendulum will switch back," said Brown.

Brown said conditions in New Hampshire have mirrored other parts of the country in that a warming trend has dominated since the 1970s — a situation that has raised questions about the possible impact of global warming.

"Climate change is contributing toward that warm pattern being more frequent and the evidence bears that out. It's the atmosphere responding to warm water in the ocean … it's a cascading effect," explained Brown.

The weather in New Hampshire has been anything but normal in the last 12 months, with Brown noting, "it's been one wild swing to another".

Hobby said 2006 was a record-setting year for Laconia beginning on May 24 when a 2.6-inch rainfall broke the record for that day and contributed to a monthly record of 9.88 inches.

The trend continued in June, which became the second-wettest ever, with 9.8 inches of rain compared to the record-setting 1988 number of 10.98 inches.

On July 12 and 13, the city broke its 24-hour record for rainfall when 3.34 inches fell.

Hobby said Laconia ended 2006 with 60.39 inches of rain, a number that is close to 20 inches above the city's 40.9 inch average.

USA's Warmest Year On Record.
Source: www.EarthFiles.com

"The past nine years have all been among the 25 warmest years on record for the contiguous U.S., unprecedented in the historical record." - NOAA

January to December 2006 average annual temperature for contiguous
U. S. was warmest on record throughout the United States.
Temperature map courtesy NOAA.

Click for full report www.earthfiles.com/news/news.cfm?ID=1191&category=Environment

I am only 15, so obviously I am not an expert on the subject. But for some reason, I have always been extremely fascinated by Meteorology, Space, Existense, Natural Disasters, ect. so I have done extensive reading on whether or not global warming (which is indeed a reality) is directly related to Hurricanes occuring more often and being more intense. If you refer to the January 30, 2006 issue of Discover Magazine, there is a very extensive article that lays out all the statistics. It explains the corralation between rising ocean surface temperatures and the frequency and intensity of hurricanes. The evidence was unrefutable. I'll continue later...