Last year the hurricane season was relatively mild, especially in contrast to the prior year of Katrina infamy. “There, see!’ said the flat-earthers. “No climate change. Go back to you naps.” Well, it turns out there is an explanation, and not a happy one.
The Sahara may have helped make last year’s hurricane season a relatively tame one, according to a NASA study.
Several major dust storms over the African desert in June and July kicked up vast amounts of dust that then drifted westward over the Atlantic Ocean and blocked sunlight from reaching the surface, researchers found. That cooled ocean waters, which might have made it harder for hurricanes to develop.
Dusty old Dust Storm
As for this year, with the season beginning on June 1…
The U.S. Atlantic basin will likely experience a very active hurricane season, the Colorado State University forecast team announced today, increasing its earlier prediction for the 2007 hurricane season.
The team’s forecast now anticipates 17 named storms forming in the Atlantic basin between June 1 and Nov. 30. Nine of the 17 storms are predicted to become hurricanes, and of those nine, five are expected to develop into intense or major hurricanes (Saffir/Simpson category 3-4-5) with sustained winds of 111 mph or greater.