From Katrina to Morakot ----What Should We Do For the Environment?

On August 29th, which marks four years for Hurricane Katrina ,many American especially that from New Orleans participated in rites honoring the dead. On August 28, 2005, Hurricane Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico where it powered up to a Category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale packing winds estimated at 175 mph.  Katrina was recorded as the most destructive storm in terms of economic losses in America. For many - it has been continued pain of losing a loved one or losing everything they have worked so hard for.  For many - their lives are beginning to take shape once again.   While just not long ago, from August 6th to 9th, Typhoon Morakot caused heavy casualties in Taiwan. It triggered flooding and mudslides that killed an estimated 500 people. The typhoon is one of Taiwan's worst natural disasters in recent years spreads. Some 11,000 people remained stranded in the mountains without water or electricity, even 11 days after the storm pounded the island. Then a question comes to us: Is there any relationship between Typhoon and glabal warming? Has global warming given the storms an added punch, making the aftereffects more dreadful? According to hurricane historian Jay Barnes of Pine Knoll Shores, North Carolina, ocean heat is the key ingredient for hurricane formation. More heat could "generate more storms and more intense hurricanes," he said. Numerous studies in recent years have found no evidence that the number of hurricanes and their northwest Pacific Ocean cousins, typhoons, is increasing because of the rise in global temperatures. But a new study in the journal Nature found that hurricanes and typhoons have become stronger and longer-lasting over the past 30 years. These upswings do correlate with a rise in sea surface temperatures. The duration and strength of hurricanes have increased by about 50 percent over the last three decades, according to study author Kerry Emanuel, a professor of atmospheric science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. Emanuel's finding defies existing models for measuring storm strength. Current models suggest that the intensity of hurricanes and typhoons should increase by 5 percent for every 1ºC (1.8ºF) rise in sea surface temperature. Through these hurricans all - there should has been valuable lessons learned. The Copenhagen Climate Conference is drawing near. It's a good time for us humanbeings to do something for the environment. A new Copenhagen Protocol will help to prevent global warming and climate changes.

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