Hurricanes are not the only phenomenon that can be both cause and effect of global warming: Ice cools the Earth by reflecting heat back into space, so when warmer temperatures melt ice they actually diminish the Earth's cooling mechanisms. Melting permafrost also releases the "greenhouse" gas methane. With Earl lashing the Florida panhandle on the heels of Hurricanes Danielle and Bonnie, Nature's study is one scientific discovery southeasterners -- and their insurance companies -- could have done without this week.
And Danielle Begat Earl...
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Scientists have bad news for residents of America's storm-battered Southeast: Hurricanes are going forth and multiplying. As Florida weathered tropical storm Earl (downgraded from a hurricane), the magazine Nature published a study showing that each new hurricane may help cause even more hurricanes in the future. The reason? Because hurricanes contribute to global warming by hurling carbon dioxide from the ocean's surface into the atmosphere -- and global warming, in turn, causes an increase in hurricanes.