Links tagged “Patricia”

Where did it all go wrong? Why did a supposedly global-warming induced, monster El Nino augmented Category 5 superstorm – the most intense ever – make landfall and effectively vanish before our very eyes into firstly a Cat 2, then 1, then tropical storm, then finally tropical depression, within the space of a few short hours? - The ‘climate change is happening now’ pundits who eagerly leapt upon Patricia as proof of claim and who (arguably) eagerly anticipated widespread destruction in its wake, have now gone quiet, no doubt waiting for the next opportunity to try and advance their agenda.

'How did Patricia get to be so strong? The answer, quite simply, involves human-caused climate change. Hurricane Patricia is exactly the kind of terrifying storm we can expect to see more frequently in the decades to come...Meteorologically, there are at least four reasons why global warming could have contributed to Patricia’s ferocity: El Niño, exceptionally warm ocean temperatures, increased atmospheric humidity, and sea level rise.'

'Basically, storms like Patricia fit closely with these predictions, though they happen so infrequently that it’s almost impossible to definitively prove.'

Mike Halpert of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Hugh Willoughby, a hurricane expert at Florida International University agree. Even if climate change is playing some unknown role, it would be adding only a small percentage to the chances of a storm like Patricia forming. A single record-breaking event, even within in a record El Niño year, cannot be linked to climate change.