As a ferocious hurricane bears down on South Florida, water managers desperately lower canals in anticipation of 4 feet of rain. Everyone east of Dixie Highway is ordered evacuated, for fear of a menacing storm surge. Forecasters debate whether the storm will generate the 200 mph winds to achieve Category 6 status.  This is one scenario for hurricanes in a warmer world, a subject of fiendish complexity and

considerable scientific research, as experts try to tease out the effects of climate change from the influences of natural climate cycles. Some changes — such as the slowing of hurricanes’ forward motion and the worsening of storm surges from rising sea levels — are happening now. Other impacts, such as their increase in strength, may have already begun but are difficult to detect, considering all of the other climate forces at work. READ MORE