Al Gore blames global warming for Myanmar disaster
While the death count in Myanmar is still rising, Al Gore takes the opportunity to score.
“We’re seeing consequences that scientists have long predicted might be associated with continued global warming.”
It was just a matter of time before someone tied the Myanmar tragedy to global warming. And who else could be more appropriate for the job than the Goracle?
Gore claims global warming is forcing ocean temperatures to rise, which is causing storms, including cyclones and hurricanes, to intensify. Disastrous cyclones have of course been around long before global warming. If Gore bothered to open a history book before his mouth he might have found this list:
Deadliest tropical cyclones in history
Rank. Name / Areas of Largest Loss, Year, Ocean Area, Deaths:
1. Great Bhola Cyclone, Bangladesh 1970 Bay of Bengal 550,000
2. Hooghly River Cyclone, India and Bangladesh 1737 Bay of Bengal 350,000
3. Haiphong Typhoon, Vietnam 1881 West Pacific 300,000
3. Coringa, India 1839 Bay of Bengal 300,000
5. Backerganj Cyclone, Bangladesh 1584 Bay of Bengal 200,000
6. Great Backerganj Cyclone, Bangladesh 1876 Bay of Bengal 200,000
7. Chittagong, Bangladesh 1897 Bay of Bengal 175,000
8. Super Typhoon Nina, China 1975 West Pacific 171,000
9. Cyclone 02B, Bangladesh 1991 Bay of Bengal 140,000
10. Great Bombay Cyclone, India 1882 Arabian Sea 100,000
11. Hakata Bay Typhoon, Japan 1281 West Pacific 65,000
12. Calcutta, India 1864 Bay of Bengal 60,000
13. Swatlow, China 1922 West Pacific 60,000
14. Barisal, Bangladesh 1822 Bay of Bengal 50,000
15. Sunderbans coast, Bangladesh 1699 Bay of Bengal 50,000
16. Bengal Cyclone, Calcutta, India 1942 Bay of Bengal 40,000
17. Canton, China 1862 West Pacific 37,000
18. Backerganj (Barisal), Bangladesh 1767 Bay of Bengal 30,000
19. Barisal, Bangladesh 1831 Bay of Bengal 22,000
20. Great Hurricane, Lesser Antilles Islands 1780 Atlantic 22,000
Nota bene: Almost all of these happened before our CO2-emissions skyrocketed.
Moreover, less than a month ago, the hurricane expert Kerry Emanuel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology unveiled that hurricane frequency and intensity may not substantially rise during the next two centuries. His novel technique for predicting future hurricane activity suggests that, even in a dramatically warming world, hurricane frequency and intensity may not substantially rise during the next two centuries.
Monsieur Gore should freshen up his knowledge. And if he really cares about the Burmese people, he could go there to help instead of exploiting their tragedy to sell more copies of his new book.
14 comments
John A. Warden III, a U.S. strategy expert recently posted this about Global Climate Change: Thinking Strategically About Global Climate Change. It would be interesting to hear how your readers view his positions and the need to establish the future state of the global climate before embarking on a lots of tactical solutions to a percieved problem.
[...] maggie wrote an interesting post today on Al Gore blames global warming for Myanmar disasterHere’s a quick excerptGore claims global warming is forcing ocean temperatures to rise, which is causing storms, including cyclones and hurricanes, to intensify. Disastrous cyclones have of course been around long before global warming. … [...]
Al Gore -> Ambulance Chaser…
D: I once heard a tip on how to find a new apartment - follow up on the obituaries.
LOL. Yes the same could apply to burglars.
Read the column from Junk Science at Investors.com
“We have a prediction all our own — that disastrous global warming will not occur. Then the greenies will take credit for preventing it and ask us if we’re glad we spent trillions in fighting it. Al Gore will be laughing all the way to the bank.”
http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=295139326448571
$300 million ad campaign. Can’t wait for that……
Give me a reason to turn the telly off.
If truth is on your side, why can’t you stop lying?
http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/05/09/right-wing-gore-cyclone/
Anders: At the end of the article is this……
” The entire north polar ice cap, normally the size the lower 48 states, give or take an Arizona, is melting before our eyes. 40 percent melted in the last twenty years. And in the summer months, it could be completely gone, in one scientific estimate, in as little as five years.”
Please tell me you think this is wild speculation with absolutely no data to back it up? I wonder what size the ice cap was when the Vikings colonized Greenland? And Al Gore has never lied?
Brian: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-04/uoca-crf043008.php
Anders: Interesting but what should I do about my brim full glass of gin and tonic which has 2 new ice cubes floating in it? Will it overflow when the ice has melted?
And isn’t it strange that Mars has a melting icy cap? Might my Porsche Cayenne Turbo causing the problem?
Brian J: The problem wih the antarctic melting isn’t that it raises the sea level (which it of course doesn’t), but that it lowers the albedo and thus works as a positive feedback. There’s plenty to read about it on the internet if you’re really interested.
Regarding the “global warming” on Mars: The argument that Martian warming disproves anthropogenic global warming fails on two points - there is little empirical evidence that Mars is warming and Mars’ climate is primarily driven by dust and albedo, not solar variations.
http://www.skepticalscience.com/global-warming-on-mars.htm
Anders: I thought we were viewing Arctic data/forecasts,
Anyway, here is what scientists predicted would happen in the future, from a 1961 viewpoint. Accurate?
http://www.pixelmatic.com.au/2000/
Brian J: Sorry, typo. Arctic it is.
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