Hurricanes and Global Warming

The summer hurricane season is here and this year has seen a record number of tropical storms. By mid-August, there are usually two storms big enough to deserve a name, but in 2005 climatologists have already named nine storms.

Meanwhile, MIT researcher Kerry Emanuel has set off a storm of debate among his colleagues, with his new finding that storms have nearly doubled in strength over the last 30 years, and that global warming is the reason. But not all scientists agree.

Hear about hurricanes, hurricane intensity, and global warming.

Guests:

Kerry Emanuel, professor of meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Chris Landsea, meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Ray Schmitt, senior scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Kevin Campion, executive vice president at the reinsurance brokerage firm Benfield Inc.