1 of 8	2 of 8	3 of 8	4 of 8	5 of 8	6 of 8	7 of 8	8 of 8

Bigger Katrina’s?

On the morning of 29 August 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck south-east Louisiana causing US $80 billion damage and costing close to 2,000 lives.

The natural disaster turned one of the major cities in the world’s richest country into a scene from a disaster movie, dead bodies floating through deserted streets and where disease and lawlessness were rampant. Climate change is predicted to see more events like Katrina.

Warming is not expected to make a difference to the number of hurricanes, but is expected to make hurricanes more intense and deadly. The energy that feeds hurricanes comes from warm sea water, which is why they are only formed in the tropics. As the sea warms, so does the hurricanes chances of becoming destructive on the scale of Katrina or beyond – the more energy a hurricane has the more water it will carry and the greater distance it can travel.

We can expect the Caribbean and Central America to be badly effected, particularly as they are less able to cope in comparison to the United States.