Enough About Hurricane Matthew and Climate Change

Hurricane Matthew was barely approaching the East coast of Florida when an opinion writer for CNN essentially said this is what the future of climate change looks like.  Of course, there were plenty of others in the media and in politics expressing the same opinion.  Then, there was Hillary Clinton.  A month ago, when Hurricane Hermine, hit parts of Florida, she said this: “[Hermine] is not the last one that’s going to hit Florida given what’s happening in the climate.”

The simple problem with statements like this is that it doesn't fit the history of hurricane activity in Florida.  For one thing, there have only been 18 years that a hurricane "hasn't" hit Florida since 1851.  10 of those years occurred in the 10 consecutive years before 2016.  Also, Matthew's Category 4 was no match for Andrew's Category 5 that occurred 24 years ago.  Before that, there was an unnamed Category 5 in 1935.  So much for Al Gore's 2005 predictions that hurricanes would increase in both frequency and intensity.

Trying to blame every weather event on climate change is politics and not science.  Not a single scientist can accurately draw the conclusion that Matthew is a direct result of global warming and climate change. 

References:

CNN: Hurricane Matthew looks a lot like the future of climate change: http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/07/opinions/sutter-hurricane-matthew-climate-change/index.html

Hillary blames Hurricane on climate change; says Trump ‘totally unfit’ to protect USA from ‘the threat of climate change’: http://www.climatedepot.com/2016/09/06/hillary-blames-hurricane-on-climate-change-says-trump-unfit-to-protect-usa-from-the-threat-of-climate-change/

List of Florida hurricanes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Florida_hurricanes

Al Gore, laughingstock: A look back at his hurricane predictions: https://www.ihatethemedia.com/al-gore-laughingstock-a-look-back-at-his-hurricane-predictions