does hurricane katrina have anything to do with global warming?

No. Hurricanes are just nature at work. We are not having more, or more powerful ones today than in the past. Katrina just happened to hit an area built below sea level and the damage was amplified because the people disregarded the evacuation orders, and the community was not prepared for the trouble.

In a word: No.

So, the next obvious question is: So why does everyone go on about it then?

And the answer to that question is, quite obviously: Because they want you to believe that Katrina does have something to do with global warming.

Here’s why…

The Global Warming Alarmists clearly want us to believe that global warming is going to be a huge catastrophe. Al Gore, for example, makes vast sums of money out of global warming. The more people he can scare onto the bandwagon, the more money he makes.

So, with regard to Katrina, here’s how he does it…

Katrina was a catastrophically destructive hurricane. Previously there had never been more than two category 5 hurricanes in one year and even that was rare. 2005 had *four*. 2005 was also the *hottest year ever*. So, if the hottest year has twice as many hurricanes as ever before, then this is plainly proof-positive that global warming causes more frequent and more destructive hurricanes, therefore, global warming is going to be a catastrophe.

Sounds pretty good, huh? Except, of course, it’s not really a fair representation of the facts.

First, let’s be clear, it is completely true that Category 5 hurricanes are not that common and to have two in one year is pretty rare – so four in one year, as happened in 2005, was remarkable, but was it caused by global warming? Well, was 2005 the “hottest year ever”? It depends on who you listen to. Several well-known and widely-utilised temperature records such as the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN), HadCRUT3, and MSU Satellite temperature data sets, all show 1998 as the hottest year on record. 1998 only had one category 5 hurricane.

Recently we heard that NASA’s temperature data for the US had an error and that now 1934 is the “hottest year ever”. Of course, this only applies to the US temperatures, but it’s hurricanes near the US that we’re talking about, so how many category 5 hurricanes were there in 1934. You guessed it, none at all.

And what about those rare years where we’ve had 2 category 5 hurricanes? 1960 and 1961, when temperatures were *cooler* than we’re lead to believe they are today. So what does that tell us about higher temperatures causing worse hurricanes?

In fact, there were six category 5 hurricanes in the 1960s, three in the 1970s, three in the 80s and only two in the 90s. So it appears that Category 5 hurricanes are becoming *less* frequent. To be fair, though, we’ve already had seven in the 00s and we’ve still got two and a bit years to go! But this seems to be an anomaly, rather than any trend, and if we have no more (quite possible, we had none in ‘00, ‘01, ‘02, & ’06) then we’ll only have had one more than the 60s.

As previously mentioned Katrina was extremely destructive, but was that because it was the “worst hurricane ever”? Well, it wasn’t the biggest hurricane of 2005, it was only the third biggest. Can you even remember the names of the two that were bigger? (For the record they were Wilma and Rita. The fourth was Emily, but Emily was only a cat 5 for about 6 hours.) In fact, the worst hurricanes (in terms of wind speed) were Allen, in 1980 and Camille, way back in 1969!

Katrina is only remembered because of the damage it caused, but that was simply down to where it made landfall. As has been mentioned above, New Orleans is a city built 6m (about 20 feet) below sea level and its flood defenses were only designed to withstand a category 3 hurricane. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that, if you hit such a city with a category 5 hurricane, it’s going to get flooded.

As ever with Global Warming - don't believe the hype!

Global warming didn't cause Katrina. Hurricanes always happen. The difference is that global warming makes hurricanes which used to be mostly harmless, into deadly storms. It was because of global warming and the heating up of the oceans that made Katrina so devastating that it destroyed so much. And after a hiatus, global warming is going to do it again starting up again in 2009. So just remember you been warned!

Nope. I stay in New Orleans, and my domicile (trailer) had 5 ft of water in it, and that i'm nonetheless no longer individually confident that worldwide warming is led to thoroughly by skill of human beings. hurricane Katrina is sometimes stated by way of fact the worst hurricane to ever hit the coast of united states of america, and in terms of economic harm it incredibly is, yet storms like that have happened interior the previous. back whilst my mothers and fathers have been toddlers (like interior the 50's and 60's), Hurricanes Camille and Betsy got here on by using and flooded and broken the section merely as undesirable. particular, 2005 grew to become right into a bad hurricane 3 hundred and sixty 5 days, yet as can been seen 2006 and 2007 have been almost lifeless, so some distance as affecting united states of america. i individually think of that hurricanes are extra unfavorable whilst they have woman names, no longer by way of fact of any worldwide warming. I recommend, different than for Andrew, all the main helpful hurricanes had woman names: Camille, Betsy, Katrina, Rita, Wilma...

Yes and No. No becasue hurricanes are a natural phenomenon. Yes because Katrina was a very deadly hurricane, and that might be because the Gulf was warmer than the years before, therefore causing a stronger storm.

Yes and no. Hurricanes are a product of ocean surface temperatures reaching 80 degrees. If the climate is warmer, the likelihood for key regions of the ocean to reach that temperature is higher. Therefore the likelihood of hurricanes occurring is higher. Conversely, hurricanes are just weather. Even if you look back 100 years, before the abrupt climate changes this century, hurricanes would still occur and they were quite strong. Katrina may very well have occured despite global warming, but certainly it was given a better chance of forming because of global warming.

The question you should be asking is '' Did global warming have anything to do with hurricane Katrina'' ? and of course it did the answers are everywhere. In 1970's Jacques Cousteau had told us that if we do not act on the pollution problem now we will pay for it later on ? David Suzuki is constantly telling us to act now ? it's even mentioned in the bible. Our problem is we don't listen until it's to late. How do we solve the problem with the massive hole in the ozone layer ?

It seems as though it was more destructive than other hurricanes. The problem was that it hit a city that was built below sea level and the levees which were decades old and not made for a hurricane that large broke down - it was old infrastructure not global warming that caused the problems

Nope. Hurricane Katrina only went to bring to light the stupidity of man in building a city below sea level and relying on man-made levees and drainage canals to deal with the forces of nature. And it continues to do so ... stupid people are rebuilding in the same freakin' place!

Si! Why would there be a hurricane unless we have global warming. Hurricanes without warming do not make sense! Ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, Chef's attorney would certainly want you to believe that his client wrote "Stinky Britches" ten years ago. And they make a good case. Hell, I almost felt pity myself! But, ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, I have one final thing I want you to consider. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Chewbacca. Chewbacca is a Wookiee from the planet Kashyyyk. But Chewbacca lives on the planet Endor. Now think about it; that does not make sense! Why would a Wookiee, an eight-foot tall Wookiee, want to live on Endor, with a bunch of two-foot tall Ewoks? That does not make sense! But more important, you have to ask yourself: What does this have to do with this case? Nothing. Ladies and gentlemen, it has nothing to do with this case! It does not make sense! Look at me. I'm a lawyer defending a major record company, and I'm talkin' about Chewbacca! Does that make sense? Ladies and gentlemen, I am not making any sense! None of this makes sense! And so you have to remember, when you're in that jury room deliberatin' and conjugatin' the Emancipation Proclamation, does it make sense? No! Ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, it does not make sense! If Chewbacca lives on Endor, you must acquit! The defense rests.