While I hate to wonder about the education Mr. Taylor received, it does boggle the mind in this particular segment (number five in our series) to hear him mistake the word frequency for the word intensity. Now it is understandable if Mr. Taylor wants to ignore the findings of Al Gore and the vast majority of scientists throughout the world but if he is going to try to discredit their evidence on the INTENSITY of hurricanes he really ought to use the proper words. Given that Gore never related the FREQUENCY of hurricanes to global warming you will find Taylor using a classic strawman argument to prove a point that was never in question."The scientific evidence has piled on high against the theory that hurricanes are increasing as a result of global warming."
You are right about one thing, Mr. Taylor, that science has not accepted the theory that hurricanes are increasing as a result of global warming. However, the problem is that Al Gore NEVER SAID THAT! What he did say was that hurricane intensity was increasing.
Mr. Taylor goes to an article by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) to prove his point. Now I don't know how many times we will have to point out that Mr. Taylor is cherry picking from a source that accepts anthroprogenic global warming, but here we go again. In its frequently asked questions about global warming, NOAA says outright that there is "no scientific debate" on the subject.
Setting up his strawman, Taylor reads from the article believing that he has effectively destroyed his strawman. Unfortunately, that same article supports the actual statement of Gore saying that the intensity of hurricanes is increasing due to warming ocean waters.
Mr. Taylor goes to an article by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) to prove his point. Now I don't know how many times we will have to point out that Mr. Taylor is cherry picking from a source that accepts anthroprogenic global warming, but here we go again. In its frequently asked questions about global warming, NOAA says outright that there is "no scientific debate" on the subject.
Setting up his strawman, Taylor reads from the article believing that he has effectively destroyed his strawman. Unfortunately, that same article supports the actual statement of Gore saying that the intensity of hurricanes is increasing due to warming ocean waters.
Hurricanes need warm ocean waters to strengthen and sustain them. Hurricanes do not form unless water temperatures are at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit — hot enough to create atmospheric convection that casts moisture 10 miles up into the atmosphere. Ocean waters were generally two to three degrees Fahrenheit warmer than average during the 2005 season, which favored stronger hurricanes.
Additionally, an article from 2006 indicates that anthroprogenic global warming has contributed to increases in ocean temperatures.
The region of the tropical Atlantic where many hurricanes originate has warmed by several tenths of a degree Celsius over the 20th century, and new climate model simulations suggest that human activity, such as increasing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, may contribute significantly to this warming.
The rest of the video consists of Taylor building up his strawman with statements from other renowned hurricane experts refuting the idea of increasing frequency. It is impossible to dispute these facts but important to point out once again that the point made by Al Gore and An Inconvenient Truth was that the intensity was increasing and not the frequency. Thus, these additional quotes become entirely irrelevant to the debate.
Cross Posted on St. Cloud Times
