St. Maarten Private Eye

How you feeling? Hot Hot Hot?

Well, maybe not hot, at least not yet, but certainly many people around the world are starting to feel warmer. China and Japan have recorded their warmest winters on record, as has the UK, much of Europe and the US. In fact January has been the hottest January on record, globally.

Atlantic Ocean temperatures have been above normal for over a year, currently they are between 1/2 and 1 1/2 degrees over, not having cooled a great deal over the winter, not good news for this year's Hurricane Season. Add into the equation that the El Nino that helped to dampen 2006's season is now reported to have died out and La Nina appears to be about to make an appearance, then you could say, 2007 could be a very interesting year for us here in 'Sweet St. Maarten Land".

Click here to Read More
____________________________________________________________

The patterns and currents of the oceans and winds are the regulators of the World's weather, they influence rainfalls, droughts, heatwaves and storms, they affect the environment you can see right now if you look out your window.

El Nino is the name given to an ocean cycle in the Pacific, when waters warm up causing more precipitation, in general Nino's can be quite destructive, to South Amarica in particular, causing floods and landslides. El Nino's also have an effect across the US and the Atlantic, less rainfall causing droughts, and more windsheer across the Caribbean and Atlantic, hindering hurricane formation. The sudden and unexpected death of the El Nino reported last week, although good news for South America and perhaps for the overall predictions for global temperatures over the coming year, it's not good news for us here in the Hurricane Zone.

The science and study of our global climate is in it's infancy and it is not known if La Nina has any significant effect on storm formation here in the Atlantic, it is however almost certain that El Nino does. His departure coupled with the Atlantic sea temperatures already an average of 1 degree or so above normal makes for what could be an interesting season ahead.

A friend once told me that building codes in hurricane zones should have the same strict requirements and guidelines as those in earthquake zones. "Always build for a catagory 5", he said, "because one day, might be in 10 years, might be in 50, might be this year, one of those bastards is going to hit.". It's been 11 years since Luis ripped St. Maarten apart, one can only imagine the mess a similar storm would leave now, with so much more to destroy.

You can find out more El Nino information here and the NOAA website has the latest reports if you want to fire up those neurons. I should just make it clear that El Nino and La Nina are natural cycles, the connection to GW in the story above is the above normal sea temperatures. El Nino has a dampening effect, La Nina does not.

Moving onto the GW Roundup.

I haven't posted in a while so there is quite a lot of GW news stacked up in my favorites, I have filed them all, including the the stories below, in the Global Warming Thread.

The bad news first......

The US emiissions are growing without letup, something the Inuit Inidians have declared violates their rights, (and the rest of us!).

Warming and overfishing is causing rapid changes in the North Atlantic and the Pacific causing a rise in 'dead zones'. San Francisco considers the consequences of a rising bay and Andean nations lament the loss of glaciers,, glaciers that feed the rivers that supply their nations with water.

The UK Environment misinster declares it's 'Now or never' for climate action and the wealthiest CEO's are the ones who resist the most.

Now for the good news....

There appears to be some progress in bringing the US into the real world in respect to GW and emissions, thankfully, many states are going ahead with their own policies and agreements rather than waiting on Shrub. The Philipines have created a task force and the UK building industry is opening it's arms to greener homes. Over 100 international companies such as Volvo, GE and Air France/KLM have now signed up to a document calling for more political action on Climate Change.

Offshore wind farms are gaining in appeal and wave farms are also being researched and developed.( See the video.) Australia will soon be launching it's first wave power plant and is moving towards banning old wasteful light bulbs.

A major two year international study of both the Arctic and Antarctic hhas just begun, climate change will be a big part of it's focus. And Al Gore took home an Oscar.

And that's all I have time for. A few other links below worth checking out, it you have time.

Live Science website

Real Climate - Hurricane Heat - 1st March 2007

IPCC Facts -

NYT Book Review - Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis: Summary for Policymakers - March Issue

Hope to have informed you well

Caribdude

Caribdude's blog | add new comment