Is Katrina First Of Many?

Author Warns That Global Warming Will Spur Similar Storms

NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2006 | by Brian Dakss

(CBS)  It's been almost a year since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, leaving more than 1,000 dead and tens of billions of dollars in damage.

In his new book, "The Ravaging Tide: Strange Weather, Future Katrinas, and the Coming Death of America's Coastal Cities," author Mike Tidwell predicts we will continue to see major hurricanes like Katrina as a result of global warming.

He stopped by The Early Show Thursday to discuss his grim forecast.

"Unfortunately," Tidwell told co-anchor Hannah Storm, "I think the biggest lesson from Katrina a year later is that the same ingredients, sort of a city (like New Orleans) below sea level, hit by a major hurricane, will be replicated by global warming all along our Atlantic and Gulf coastlines.

"That means lower Manhattan, for example, is right at sea level now. If we get three feet of sea level rise from global warming, much of lower Manhattan, parts of Washington D.C., a lot of Miami, all our coastal cities will be below sea level like New Orleans. Also, the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

"We're going to have to build levees to hold back the sea. You're going to have cities below sea level because the seas rose because of global warming.

"And on top of that, hurricanes are becoming more intense. We know that.
Three of the six most powerful hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic basin in the last 150 years happened in a 52-day time span last summer. That would be Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. There have been six major scientific studies in the last year that show that hurricanes are becoming more intense because of global warming.

"If you combine those two — Miami, New York, Baltimore, below sea level suddenly, and major hurricanes becoming more frequent — you have cities like New Orleans all along our coastlines, unless we stop global warming."

Tidwell added, "(Top scientists say) we have about 10 years to turn it around. The Greenland ice sheet is rapidly melting. That could bring 23 feet of sea level rise. We've got to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions, get off of fossil fuels — oil, coal, and natural gas — and switch to clean energy. The good news is, we have a lot of solutions ready to go."

To watch the interview, click here.

To read an excerpt, click here.

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