Yes, Climate Change Heats Up Hurricanes

Stepping into the debate about whether climate change is likely to cause more frequent and more intense hurricanes, science writer Chris Mooney says in Salon the trend is observable, but it's nonscience to attribute any single hurricane to climate change, or to make predictions about any one hurricane season. Still, he says we’ve got to get ready—and quick.

The writer takes aim at increasing American migration to the coast, and warns against the false comfort of slow change: “We'll always have off years, but won't have an off decade.” He argues that the big news isn't the damage wrought by Katrina—it's the damage it would have caused if it had actually hit New Orleans—not to speak of the ones that just missed Miami, Tampa and Houston. "We've been lucky," he concludes. (More hurricane season stories.)