Not that I'm complaining, but WTF? Last year at this time, we were recovering from 2 DEVASTATING hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast. We had to start naming them after greek symbols because we ran out of letters! Everyone was saying that this is a 20-year cycle and to expect 2006 to be even worse. Well, now we're only to letter 'H' and only 1 even hit American. It wasn't even a hurricane when it hit. Again, I'm sure not complaining. I tried to buy flood insurance too late this year so I'm glad we're in the clear, but I'm just wondering if some of our resident weather experts can explain what's going on. Or what's NOT going on.
The weathermen are too busy screaming like a girl at cockroaches so I'll answer. Never think you can predict El Nino!
I am a_drummer2 K, I also WISHHED there was a hurricayne. I want to see a FLOOD because it looks cool to see people on FOXNEWS with boats! I also want a debut card from FEMA so I CAN also by a GIRLS GONE WILD tape!
El Nino is a real pain in the ass for a lot of people around the world, but it is a God-send for those of us along the Gulf Coast in the form of decreased hurricane activity. Chances are, we will likely see a VERY mild hurricane season next summer as well because the El Nino event this year is expected to be moderate and last into January or February. El Nino is a super warm pocket of air and ocean water off the northwest coast of South America. It creates high wind shear and trade wind activity blowing from west to east across the Atlantic Basin, right where the largest storms form. The first signs of El Nino actually began back in June and really inhibited the growth of large storms in the Atlantic. Also, a weaker and more easterly ridge of high pressure over the northern Atlantic (referred to as the Bermuda High) that allows storms in the Atlantic to recurve out to sea kept most storms from threatening land. At this point, it is actually likely we'll see a repeat of these conditions during the hurricane season in 2007.
You know Gore wishes his movie came out the year before. "See I told you so!" Global warming is a joke I don't care what Frank Billingsley says.
The serious argument is no longer "Does it exist?" but "What do we do about it?" Calling it a "joke" is no longer an option unless you yourself want to look like one. If you're a citizen who cares about the direction of the country and the shape of the world, you need to realize the big argument is now over solutions. Like it or not, Gore did a lot of heavy lifting to move us from the question to the solutions phase and your boy W is in (or, at least he's throwing out some reluctant rhetoric). Bush: I think--I have said consistently that global warming is a serious problem. There's a debate over whether it's manmade or naturally caused. We ought to get beyond that debate and start implementing the technologies necessary to enable us to achieve a couple of big objectives: one, be good stewards of the environment; two, become less dependent on foreign sources of oil for economic reasons and for national security reasons. That's why we're pressing for clean coal technology. That's why the hydrogen initiative is robust. In other words, we want our children being able to drive cars not fueled by gasoline but by hydrogen. That's why I've been a strong advocate of ethanol as an alternative source of fuel to run our cars. I strongly believe that we ought to be developing safe nuclear power. The truth of the matter is, if this country wants to get rid of its greenhouse gases we've got to have the nuclear power industry be vibrant and viable. And so I believe in--and I've got a plan to be able to deal with greenhouse gases. June 26, 2006 http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/print.php?pid=231
