The Associated Press is saying that the Journal Nature (subscription required) reports that the White House blocked release of a report that concluded that global warming has contributed to increased frequency and intensity of hurricanes.
"The Bush administration has blocked release of a report that suggests global
warming is contributing to the frequency and strength of hurricanes, the journal
Nature reported Tuesday.""The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration disputed the Nature article,
saying there was not a report but a two-page fact sheet about the topic."(…)
"…Nature said weather experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration — part of the Commerce Department — in February set up a seven-member panel to prepare a
consensus report on the views of agency scientists about global warming and
hurricanes."According to Nature, a draft of the statement said that warming may be having
an effect."In May, when the report was expected to be released, panel chair Ants Leetmaa
received an e-mail from a Commerce official saying the report needed to be made
less technical and was not to be released, Nature reported."(…)
"The report drew a prompt response from Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J., who charged that "the administration has effectively
declared war on science and truth to advance its anti-environment agenda … the
Bush administration continues to censor scientists who have documented the
current impacts of global warming."The article continues:
"A series of studies over the past year or so have shown an increase in the
power of hurricanes in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, a strengthening that
many storm experts say is tied to rising sea-surface temperatures."Just two weeks ago, researchers said that most of the increase in ocean
temperature that feeds more intense hurricanes is a result of human-induced
global warming, a study one researcher said "closes the loop" between climate
change and powerful storms like Katrina."Not all agree, however, with opponents arguing that many other factors affect
storms, which can increase and decrease in cycles."The possibility of global warming affecting hurricanes is politically
sensitive because the administration has resisted proposals to restrict release
of gases that can cause warming conditions."
So is this another case of the Bush Administration suppressing science it disagrees with? The article says the NOAA Administrator claims that the document couldn’t be released because it was an internal document and that NOAA could not take an official policy position on the issue. However, AP reports that Nature online says:
"…the study was merely a discussion of the current state of hurricane science and
did not contain any policy or position statements."
Today’s news is reminiscent of another recent controversy involving NOAA and global warming. On September 19, Congressman Waxman sent a letter to the Secretary of Commerce about a CNBC request for an interview of a NOAA scientist named Dr. Tom Knutson, someone they had interviewed before. The Waxman letter says in part:
"CNBC’s request was forwarded from NOAA to Chuck Fuqua in your office. Mr.
Fuqua is currently a press officer. He used to be the Director of Media
Operations for the 2004 Republican National Convention."Upon receiving the request, Mr. Fuqua emailed back to NOAA, “what is
Knutson’s position on global warming vs. decadal cycles? is he consistent with
Bell and Landsea?” Dr. Gerry Bell is NOAA’s chief hurricane forcast scientist. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Bell stated at a NOAA press conference that the intensity of the storm was "not related to greenhouse warming." Chris Landsea is a research meteorologist with the Hurricane Research Division of the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory in Miami. Like Dr. Bell, he has vocally questioned the connection between hurricanes and global warming."NOAA responded to Mr. Fuqua that Dr. Knutson projected a “very small increase
in hurricane intensity” due to increased greenhouse gas pollution. Mr. Fuqua
responded, “why can’t we have one of the other guys then?” This apparently ended
the matter. NOAA’s Daily Media Tracking Log states that the request for the
interview with Dr. Knutson was subsequently denied."
The Bush administration has a track record of suppressing science they don’t like and I doubt many will give them the benefit of the doubt on this.
Crossposted at BlueClimate
