On American Spectator today, Patrick Michaels explains a hurricane study by Roger Pielke, Jr., director of the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Colorado. Unlike most other scientific research, however, Pielke applies some economics and simple algebra into his equation to determine whether the current warming of the earth is producing more damage from hurricanes. His findings, reported by Michaels:
Is the planet warmer
than it was? Yes. Is there any trend in hurricane-related damages in
the United States, where good records of damages exist? After
accounting simultaneously for inflation, population, and property
values, no.The problem with these storms is that Americans have
a peculiar proclivity to take money and bury it in a sand dune on a
hurricane-prone beach, i.e. a beach house. As a result, the number of
beach homes is going up and up, and because the supply is limited
(there’s only so much beach), prices have risen astronomically. And the
costs and sizes of the homes have also risen, given that increases in
real wealth have outpaced inflation.Pielke’s very clever (and
elegant) methodology, employing a simple algebraic equation, gives
hurricane damages in 2005-dollar equivalents.
Michaels’s determination: This year’s “H” hurricane should be named “Hysteria.”
