The Bush administration blocked release of a report that suggests global
warming is contributing to the frequency and strength of hurricanes, the journal
Nature said Tuesday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration disputed the Nature article,
saying there was not a report but a two-page fact sheet about the topic. The
information was to be included in a press kit to be distributed in May as the
annual hurricane season approached but wasn't ready.
"The document wasn't done in time for the rollout," NOAA spokesman Jordan St.
John said in responding to the Nature article. "The White House never saw it, so
they didn't block it."
The possibility that warming conditions may cause storms to become stronger has
generated debate among climate and weather analysts, particularly after the
Hurricane Katrina disaster.
In the new case, Nature said weather experts at the National Oceanic and ...