Even Jefferson may have noticed the relationship between high temperatures and hurricanes. In his horticulture diary on July 1, 1792, Jefferson wrote, "This was probably the hottest day ever known in Virginia. on the same day was a violent hurricane from about the capes of Virginia Northwardly. it overset vessels & blew down chimneys & the tops of houses in Philada & N. York, & destroyed a great deal of timber in the country." He seemed interested in temperatures and compared the temperatures at his friends' homes in different areas of Virginia.
1792 July 1. Sunday. The thermometer at Dr. Walker's was this day at 96°. which he says is 3° higher than he ever knew it since he lived at the mountains. there was no thermometer at Monticello; but I have observed when I had one here, that it was generally about 2°. below Dr. Walker's. & mr Maury's. so we may suppose it would have been 94°. It was at 97°. at mr Madison's, in Orange on the same day, and at 99°. in Richmond. this was probably the hottest day ever known in Virginia. on the same day was a violent hurricane from about the capes of Virginia Northwardly. it overset vessels & blew down chimneys & the tops of houses in Philada & N. York, & destroyed a great deal of timber in the country. Read from Jefferson's Garden Book
Scientists concur that rising ocean temperatures lead to stronger hurricanes, but there has been some debate in the scientific community whether global warming is responsible. In June, scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado announced their belief that global warming is the main cause for the rise in ocean temperatures.
Scientists: Warming fuels big hurricanes
Cox News Service
June 23. 2006 6:01AM
WASHINGTON - Global warming, not natural ocean temperature fluctuations, was the main cause of the ocean heat that energized last year's killer hurricanes, scientists at a federally funded climate laboratory said Thursday.
As a result, continued increases in the Earth's temperature likely will lead to more "enhanced hurricane activity" in the years ahead, said climate analysts Kevin Trenberth and Dennis Shea of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo.
Hurricanes draw their energy from the ocean, and scientists on both sides of the debate agree that rising Atlantic Ocean temperatures have driven the past decade's increasingly violent hurricanes. Read more...
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Thomas Jefferson observed and chronicled nature fervently. A Renaissance man of his day, he advocated for the advancement of science. On August 23, 1785, Jefferson wrote to John Jay, "Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independant, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to it's liberty and interests by the most lasting bands."
Somehow I do not think Thomas Jefferson would approve of George W. Bush's environmental policies.
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