Today closes out the 2007 hurricane season for the United States. So let’s review quickly. Prior to the start of this season, hurricane experts predicted there would be seven to nine hurricanes, three to five major hurricanes and 13-17 named storms. And what did we get? There were five hurricanes, two of which were major and 14 named storms. But there’s more.
We are now finding out that the hurricane forecasting people are using different criteria to name storms. First of all, in 2002, scientists began naming subtropical storms along with tropical storms. There is also significant discussion as to whether or not at least 6 named storms this year should have been named at all.
Here’s what David Ridenour, vice president of The National Center for Public Policy Research, said about NOAA’s changing policies.
“NOAA correctly predicted the number of named storms, but it’s not clear this statistic has any meaning, as the agency is inflating today’s storm numbers relative to storms in the past,” said David A. Ridenour, vice president of The National Center for Public Policy Research and author of a forthcoming new report on this year’s hurricane season. “NOAA is doing so both by changing the criteria for naming storms and by failing to account for changes in technology that make detection of storms much easier.”
Yesterday, while listening to the radio, I heard an interview with the local Fox Television affiliate, chief meteorologist Paul Dellegatto, out of Tampa, Florida. He was reiterating the same claims that he also believes that at least six of the named storms would never have been named a couple of years ago.
Is there something behind this? Perhaps but people need to understand what it is like to live in Florida which is susceptible to hurricanes. My problem is not with the hurricane service changing their hurricane naming policies per se. Much of the reason they are naming more storms is due to the fact that more sophisticated equipment allows them to detect weather systems better. As a matter of fact, the QuikScat satellite measures roughly 200 times the amount of surface winds than previous methods.
The problem is this information about NOAA’s changing policies and information gathering is not being made known to the public and is being kept from the public by much of the media and global warming alarmists. For those who don’t know, let me explain briefly what this means for people like me who live in Florida.
Because we hear that global warming is causing more and bigger hurricanes, which by the way is inaccurate, insurance companies use this to bolster their demands to raise insurance rates. Here’s what that means in real terms. People by the hundreds in Florida are being dropped by their insurance companies everyday because they don’t want to assume any kind of risk. It also means everyone who is insured has to pay ridiculous rates for minimal coverage. Let me give you a first-hand example.
Previous to where I am living now, I owned a three bedroom home in a quiet neighborhood. As the crow flies, I lived about 2 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. It just so happens that I lived at 65 feet above sea level, one of the highest points in all of Pinellas County.
When I bought the house, my insurance cost me about $800.00 per year. I owned the home three years. The day I sold my house, my insurance was costing over $3,500.00 a year. Now you know why I sold it. By the way, I never made a claim during that time.
Insurance companies are being allowed to rape the public with their rate increases because “global warming is causing more and bigger, more destructive storms”, as is being bought by the public.
There is also another issue that affects not only home owners, buyers and sellers, but is a direct reflection of the growth of the economy here in Florida. Any time there is a named storm in the Caribbean Sea or Gulf of Mexico, no insurance company will take on a new policy. While somewhat understandable, home sales are halted while everyone sits and waits. Sometimes these storms can be hanging around for weeks.
With the increased technology and changes in policy for naming storms, this is destroying the economy in Florida, as well as much of the Gulf Coast states and forcing many home owners to sell their homes at a loss.
Now I know there will be those who will say I never should have moved to or lived in Florida because it is hurricane prone. The truth is, the last time a hurricane directly hit Tampa, Florida was, I think, 1921, or something like that. Unless you live right on the beach, there is probably less risk than most people in New England encounter with Noreasters.
I have repeatedly heard people ask what harm can be done even if global warming isn’t real and we all work toward making our environment better. Well, here’s one answer. People are being asked to pay more and more taxes to pay for global warming studies. There is talk of carbon taxes and other such nonsense. People are being asked to drastically alter their lifestyles while reacting in ways that will cripple our economy. What harm can be done?
In my opinion, I already pay far too many taxes and I can guarantee that payment isn’t going to decrease any. Our politicians don’t know what it’s like to earn a dollar. They don’t know how to stop spending. I’m tired of it and I’ll be damned if I am going to sit idly by while a politician flies about the world in his private jet, leaving his caravan of gas guzzling SUVs behind in the yard of his multi-million dollar mansion, telling me I have to pay more taxes, drive less, find alternative ways to heat my home, pay tens times the amount to have electricity in my home, etc.
For those of you who don’t have any sympathy for me, don’t be asking for my sympathy either when every American is paying triple electric bills, quadruple home insurance bills, more in gas taxes, increased health care costs, all because of global warming overreaction. If it hasn’t come to your home town, just wait, it will.
Here’s an added feature for you home entertainment. The American Thinker has compiled a list of over 600 links to websites, articles and the like that blame global warming for an array of things that you just will not believe. You still think the world hasn’t gone mad over global warming? CLICK THIS LINK!
Tom Remington
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