It's a white man's world.

Al Gore on Katrina, Global Warming

There are scientific warnings now of another onrushing catastrophe. We were warned of an imminent attack by Al Qaeda; we didn't respond. We were warned the levees would break in New Orleans; we didn't respond. Now, the scientific community is warning us that the average hurricane will continue to get stronger because of global warming. A scientist at MIT has published a study well before this tragedy showing that since the 1970s, hurricanes in both the Atlantic and the Pacific have increased in duration, and in intensity, by about 50 %. The newscasters told us after Hurricane Katrina went over the southern tip of Florida that there was a particular danger for the Gulf Coast of the hurricanes becoming much stronger because it was passing over unusually warm waters in the gulf. The waters in the gulf have been unusually warm. The oceans generally have been getting warmer. And the pattern is exactly consistent with what scientists have predicted for twenty years. Two thousand scientists, in a hundred countries, engaged in the most elaborate, well organized scientific collaboration in the history of humankind, have produced long-since a consensus that we will face a string of terrible catastrophes unless we act to prepare ourselves and deal with the underlying causes of global warming. [applause] It is important to learn the lessons of what happens when scientific evidence and clear authoritative warnings are ignored in order to induce our leaders not to do it again and not to ignore the scientists again and not to leave us unprotected in the face of those threats that are facing us right now.

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Study says global warming not worsening hurricanes

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science WriterMon May 19, 12:46 AM ET

Global warming isn't to blame for the recent jump in hurricanes in the Atlantic, concludes a study by a prominent federal scientist whose position has shifted on the subject.

Not only that, warmer temperatures will actually reduce the number of hurricanes in the Atlantic and those making landfall, research meteorologist Tom Knutson reported in a study released Sunday.

In the past, Knutson has raised concerns about the effects of climate change on storms. His new paper has the potential to heat up a simmering debate among meteorologists about current and future effects of global warming in the Atlantic.

Ever since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, hurricanes have often been seen as a symbol of global warming's wrath. Many climate change experts have tied the rise of hurricanes in recent years to global warming and hotter waters that fuel them.

Another group of experts, those who study hurricanes and who are more often skeptical about global warming, say there is no link. They attribute the recent increase to a natural multi-decade cycle.

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Gore wins $1 million prize from Israeli group

By ARON HELLER, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 51 minutes ago

Al Gore received a $1 million prize on Monday for his environmental work from an Israeli fund.

The Dan David Foundation awarded the former vice president its annual "present" prize for alerting the world to the crisis from the overuse of fossil fuels. It also gave prizes in "past" and "future" categories.

The Nobel laureate received the award at a ceremony at Tel Aviv University.

In his address, Gore said, "We do face a planetary emergency. The phrase sounds shrill to many, but it is unfortunately quite accurate."

Gore said 10 percent of the prize would go to young researchers and the rest to the Alliance for Climate Protection, an advocacy group he confounded and which works to change public opinion worldwide about the urgency of the climate crisis.

Gore shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with the United Nations panel on climate change for their environmental work. After learning of his Nobel win, Gore said he was donating half his share of the prize money to the Alliance for Climate Protection.

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Al Gore, the Prophet of Doom, has received another million dollar award. As Navin Johnson's black father in "The Jerk" said: "It's a white man's world."