Warming-Fueled Hurricanes Need New Tactics - Experts
Date: 29-Aug-07
Country: US
Author: Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent
These tactics range from restoring wetlands -- which may
actually slow down approaching storms -- to making homes and
other structures better able to withstand hurricanes to
organizing finances so more can be spent on prevention, the
panel of experts said.
Peter Webster, who teaches environmental engineering at
Georgia Institute of Technology, noted the consequences of
Hurricane Katrina, which hit the US Gulf Coast on Aug. 29,
2005.
"We have a choice ... of being able to take hits like
Katrina and pay the cost of US$150 to $200 billion and many, many
lives, or we have the choice of spending perhaps one-tenth or
one-twentieth of that per year in hardening our
infrastructure," Webster said.
Many scientists, including most of those working with the
UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, have reported a
link between global warming and the severity of hurricanes.
World surface temperatures have risen about 1 degree F
(.55C) over the last 100 years, and are forecast to rise
further this century. Because hurricanes feed on warm ocean
water, some climate scientists foresee more severe hurricanes.
COSTLIEST NATURAL DISASTERS
Hurricanes account for nine of the 10 costliest US
natural disasters since 1989, with Hurricane Katrina at the top
of the list with US$125 billion in damage and 1,833 deaths,
according to the US Federal Emergency Management Agency and
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The only non-hurricane on the list was the Northridge,
California, earthquake of 1994.
These statistics were cited in a report on how to cope with
the stronger hurricanes expected to be associated with
increased global warming, issued by the liberal Center for
American Progress think tank, which also convened the forum
where Webster and others spoke.
Jane Bullock, who was chief of staff at FEMA during the
Clinton administration and now is based at George Washington
University, said local community efforts including government,
business, universities and environmental groups can be
effective in mitigating the worst hurricanes' effects.
"We know it works, it worked in the 1990s," Bullock said.
"It saves money. For every one dollar invested in mitigation,
there's four dollars in benefits."
Bullock said one good mitigation project for coastal
communities most vulnerable to hurricanes is to retain or
restore wetlands.
Wetlands, which used to be drained as a matter of course in
the United States, provide flood control by absorbing excess
water during storms, filter pollutants before they enter
streams, lakes and oceans and protect coastal areas from
erosion, according to a 2006 Government Accountability Office
report.
