[IP] White House Said to Bar Hurricane Report
Begin forwarded message:
From: "Robert J. Berger" <rberger@xxxxxxx>
Date: September 26, 2006 8:14:18 PM EDT
To: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, David Farber
<dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: White House Said to Bar Hurricane Report
White House Said to Bar Hurricane Report
http://www.salon.com/wire/ap/archive.html?wire=D8KCPSL00.html
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID AP Science Writer
September 26,2006 | WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has blocked
release of a report that suggests global warming is contributing to
the frequency and strength of hurricanes, the journal Nature reported
Tuesday. The possibility that warming conditions may cause storms to
become stronger has generated debate among climate and weather
experts, particularly in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
In the new case, Nature said weather experts at the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration -- part of the Commerce Department --
in February set up a seven-member panel to prepare a consensus report
on the views of agency scientists about global warming and hurricanes.
According to Nature, a draft of the statement said that warming may
be having an effect.
In May, when the report was expected to be released, panel chair Ants
Leetmaa received an e-mail from a Commerce official saying the report
needed to be made less technical and was not to be released, Nature
reported.
Leetmaa, head of NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in New
Jersey, did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment.
NOAA spokesman Jordan St. John said he had no details of the report.
NOAA Administrator Conrad Lautenbacher is currently out of the
country, but Nature quoted him as saying the report was merely an
internal document and could not be released because the agency could
not take an official position on the issue.
However, the journal said in its online report that the study was
merely a discussion of the current state of hurricane science and did
not contain any policy or position statements.
A series of studies over the past year or so have shown an increase
in the power of hurricanes in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, a
strengthening that many storm experts say is tied to rising sea-
surface temperatures.
<snip>
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Robert J. Berger - Internet Bandwidth Development, LLC.
Voice: 408-882-4755 eFax: +1-408-490-2868
http://www.ibd.com
-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as roessler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To manage your subscription, go to
http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip
Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/