HURRICANE wars have resumed, with claims that global warming is behind the increased number of high-intensity hurricanes across the world.
Last September, days after Katrina devastated New Orleans, Peter Webster and Judith Curry of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta claimed that the number of intense hurricanes had almost doubled over the past 35 years. The increase was worldwide, they said, and it was caused by rising sea temperatures.
The study was criticised for ignoring other variables known to influence hurricane intensity, including high humidity, atmospheric circulation (the large-scale movement of air), and the strength of horizontal shear winds.…
