From: Steve Davies (steve365@btinternet.com)
Date: Mon Apr 14 2003 - 08:46:25 MDT
Mike Lorrey said (a propos the 12th century flood in the Low Countries)
> Then any warming would not be a problem. The second half of the 20th
> century had half as many severe hurricanes/cyclones worldwide as the
> first half of the 20th. Since those claiming the sky is falling claim
> the most warming occured in the second half of the 20th, it indicates
> that warming reduces severe storms.
>
> THis is quite logical, since the warming does not occur at the equator,
> but at the poles. The reduced temperature differential between equator
> and polar regions will naturally result in less severe storms.
It is interesting that severe tropical storms have become less frequent over
the last sixty years (of course they now cause greater damage in monetary
terms). I don't know enough about meteorology to be sure about your
explanation.
Mike adds
The Dutch should be more worried if we have another Little Ice Age
> (especially since the date you cite was at the beginning of that Age).
We should *all* be more worried by the prospect of global cooling, given the
planetary climate's default setting. The date of the great storm however was
at the height of the warm spell as the "Little Ice Age" didn't get going
until the early 14th century. SD
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