Hurricane Rita Now a Category 5

[Viper]

At 10 PM, sustained winds were 175 mph.

All those NO evacuees that fled to Houston are evacuating back to NO.

Wow, isn't San Antonio the temp home of the NFL Saints? Looks like they may need a new temp home.

[CtownMikey]

global warming or not.. there is nothing we can do to stop such strong storms from becoming more frequent!

Maybe if we haul 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons of ice into the gulf each year...

[monsoon]

Yes, the gulf is at historically average temperatures and risen sea levels. The paper this morning said this is the first time on record that two category 5 storms have crossed the gulf in the same season and this storm has grown to be one of the most powerful storms, ever. These are more signs that global warming is having a negative effect on our weather.

Hurricanes are heat engines that convert the heat found in the ocean water to kinetic energy. This is one mechanism the earth uses to release excessive heat. Rita is the 18th named Atlantic storm of this season which is a pretty high. In the Europe section there are photos of damage cause by two atlantic hurricanes which did not make landfall in the USA but instead crossed the normally cold N. Atlantic and struck the coast of that very northern country. There was significant damage.

I predict this is just the tip of the iceburg in terms of bad weather that we are going to see in the next decades as our environment continues to warm up.

[monsoon]

By the way, scientists were convinced about climate change in 1975 too:  http://www.globalclimate.org/Newsweek.htm

Yes, global cooling was coming and we were all going to starve.  This was just 30 years ago.  Does this provide any doubt to some of you?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

1.7 Billion people are starving on the planet now. I would say that is a complete vindication fo the Newsweek article.

[ngp]

So...who's ready to pack up and move to Mars?

*raises hand*

[SOCOM]

Good news is that the Hurricane has been weakening over the past 16 hours. The pressure is coming up, and the storm is losing some of its symmetry. Hopefully this trend will continue!

[monsoon]

It is expected to drop off some, but for a while this morning, it was the 3rd most powerful storm ever measured in modern times. There were gusts beyond 200mph!

The warming seas are though to be the reason these storms are so much more intense now.

[Viper]

You know, there are hundreds of possibilities for why the water could be warmer. The media, as always, is jumping on the most fanatical and doomsday possibility of them all.

As I said, we are still coming off an ice age. We could be 0.0000001 degree closer to the sun. Earth magnetic forces could be going though another normally occuring shift. Greater butterfy activity in Africa.

Let me tell you this. There is NO link between human industry and rising temps aside from circumstancial. There are dozens of theories out there and many completely contradict each other will equally profound evidence.

We have no proof. We have circumstances.

[MR-2]

You know, there are hundreds of possibilities for why the water could be warmer. The media, as always, is jumping on the most fanatical and doomsday possibility of them all.

As I said, we are still coming off an ice age. We could be 0.0000001 degree closer to the sun. Earth magnetic forces could be going though another normally occuring shift. Greater butterfy activity in Africa.

Let me tell you this. There is NO link between human industry and rising temps aside from circumstancial. There are dozens of theories out there and many completely contradict each other will equally profound evidence.

We have no proof. We have circumstances.

Stop acting like the victim. The media is solely responsible for lending crediblity to unscientific attacks on global warming. The ice age wasn't yesterday. And this is the wrong thread to drag that argument into.

[Viper]

I know, I'm the one that created a new thread to continue this topic on and few are doing so. Acting like a victim? I don't follow you.