Lower Hurricane Frequency

The global warming extremists seem to be loosing steam. After hurricane Katrina we were warned of more and stronger hurricanes due to human activity. Seems, according to this latest study, it is our production which has moderated the threat of hurricanes.

When will people learn there is no sense to attempt to control something we don't fully understand, like weather?

Man-made particles lowered hurricane frequency: study

AFP - Higher levels of air pollution reduced the frequency of North Atlantic hurricanes and other tropical storms for most of the 20th century, a study said Sunday.

Adding to evidence for mankind's impact on the weather system, the probe found a link between these powerful storms and aerosols, the scientific term for specks of matter suspended in a gas.

Aerosols can occur in natural form -- as dusty volcanic plumes, clouds or fog -- but are also man-made, such as sooty particles from burning coal or oil.

The study focused on particles from North America and Europe that were generated mainly from burning fossil fuels.

Researchers from the UK Met Office created weather simulations covering the period 1860 to 2050.

They found that tropical storms were much less frequent during periods when emissions

of man-made aerosols increased over the North Atlantic.

"Increases  in anthropogenic emissions (particularly of aerosols) through most of the last century is found to have reduced hurricane activity," co-author Ben Booth told AFP.

"The cooling impact of man-emitted aerosols may have had a more important regional impact on climate than we previous appreciated."

Aerosols reflect solar rays and change the brightness of clouds, which affects how much of the Sun's heat is projected onto the surface of the sea, the authors suggest.

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