CLIMATE CHANGE MEANS FREQUENT KATRINAS – STUDY

Study: Climate change to worsen hurricane storm surge; The USA could see a storm like Hurricane Katrina every two years.

Doyle Rice, March 18, 2013 (USA Today)

“…[A] Hurricane Katrina every two years… is possible by the end of the century due to climate change, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences…The frequency of extreme storm surges — the deadly and devastating walls of water that roar ashore during hurricanes — is projected to increase by as much as 10 times in coming decades because of warming temperatures, the study finds…

“…Global warming has already doubled the chance of storms like Katrina, according to the study…Storm surge is typically the biggest killer from hurricanes, and also usually causes the most destruction: Katrina killed more than 1,800 people and caused $125 billion in damage, mostly from storm surge, while Sandy last year killed dozens and caused at least $50 billion in damages…”

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“[R]esearch shows that there will be a tenfold increase in frequency of storm surges if the climate becomes 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit warmer…One estimate from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shows that, under one of the "best-case" scenarios, Earth's atmosphere's temperature will rise anywhere from 2.0 to 5.2 degrees by the end of the century…

“…[The current 0.7 degrees warming has doubled] the frequency of extreme storm surges like the one during Hurricane Katrina…In addition to there being more extreme storm surges, the sea will also rise due to global warming…[and] the storm surges will become worse and potentially more destructive…”

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