Hurricanes and Blame

The science on global warming is very unclear. We don’t know how much human-generated emissions are responsible for the slight increases in temperatures in recent decades. We know the earth has experienced climate changes many times in the past, and we were not in existence during most of them; thus we were not responsible. Most of us recognize, however, that it’s a good idea to reduce our emissions for a variety of reasons other than global warming.

Whether or not humanity is responsible for global warming, scientists are hardly in agreement about how the rising temperatures will affect our environment. Some argue hurricanes have become stronger because of global warming. But records show that the strength of hurricanes has been ebbing and flowing since records were kept. Cyclones, basically hurricanes in the far east, have not increased in strength, although one would expect they would if global warming was the culprit.

With so many unanswered questions about emissions, global warming, and the effect global warming may or may not have on the environment, it is shocking to me that anybody could point fingers as to who was responsible—as if any of us could be responsible—for the destruction wrought by Katrina. But already a number of elected officials and pundits have blamed the president, the governor of Mississippi, and others for the hurricane.

As we are still rescuing people, relocating them, and trying to prevent the outbreak of diseases, it’s hard to imagine that anybody at this time could be so low and slimy as to start laying blame for an act of nature that we don’t really understand very well.