Global Warming: Is There Anything It Can't Do?

You knew this was coming. From Bill McKibben:

Irene’s got a middle name, and it’s Global Warming.

As she roars up the Eastern Seaboard, everyone is doing what they should—boarding windows, preparing rescue plans, stocking up on batteries. But a lot of people are also wondering: what’s a “tropical” storm doing heading for the snow belt?

Only one Category 3 Storm has hit Long Island since the 1800s; that was the great unnamed storm of 1938, which sent 15-foot storm waters surging through what are now multimillion-dollar seaside homes.

While hurricanes in the Northeast have been rare lately, they were much more common when global temperatures were cooler. Via Wikipedia, here is a list of hurricanes that have struck New York City and caused significant damage:

• September 23, 1875
• August 19, 1788
• October 9, 1804
• September 16, 1816
• September 3, 1821
• October 13, 1846
• October 6, 1849
• October 28, 1872

Now, here is a graph of world temperatures back to 1846 which is as far back as these records go:

So, it is safe to say the cause and effect, if any, is the opposite of what Mr. McKibben is proposing. Global warming seems to decrease hurricanes in the Northeast.