Boulder scientists connect humans, hurricanes

Jim Erickson, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 11, 2006 at midnight

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Rising ocean temperatures in key hurricane breeding grounds of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans are due primarily to human-caused increases in greenhouse gas concentrations, according to a study published online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Using 22 different computer models of the climate system, scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder and nine other institutions report that the warming of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the tropical Atlantic and Pacific oceans over the last century is linked to human activities.

"We've used virtually all the world's climate models to study the causes of SST changes in hurricane formation regions," said lead author Benjamin Santer of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Research published during the past year has uncovered evidence of a link between rising ocean temperatures and increases in hurricane intensity. This has raised concerns about the causes of the rising temperatures, particularly in parts of the Atlantic and Pacific where hurricanes and other tropical cyclones form.

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