The mainstream media, searching for something or someone to blame for this tragedy, has been quick to jump at global warming as a possible cause for this devastation. Of course, global warming is causing some negative effects on our natural environment, but it is not to be blamed for this disaster.

Scientific analysis from Roger Pielke Sr.…

The catastrophic destruction that has occurred in the central Gulf coast of the United States due to Hurricane Katrina is occupying our thoughts. This calamity will consume enormous time and cost to recover from and to provide as much protection as possible from the inevitable next hurricane of this magnitude in this region and elsewhere. This is a sad time.
However, little time has passed before the disaster is being blamed by some of the media on global warming (see, for example, articles in The Belfast Telegraph and the Los Angeles Times. This narrow perspective completely misses the real reason for this disaster. As we, and others, have discussed (see Pielke, R.A. Sr., 2000: Discussion Forum: A broader perspective on climate change is needed and Pielke Jr. et al. 2005: Hurricanes and global warming), the significant risks are due to crossing thresholds in our vulnerability to environmental threats of all types. In this case, construction of towns on the immediate coastline and of a city below sea level (New Orleans) makes these regions particularly vulnerable to hurricanes.
The media have almost universally ignored an accurate description of the spectrum of human forcings on climate as presented in the National Research Council 2005 rporet.

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