Crews are frantically trying to repair damage caused by last year's Gulf of Mexico hurricanes, with the 2006 hurricane season only four months away.
It's been six months since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed or damaged more than 167 offshore oil platforms and 183 pipelines with winds up to 175 mph and waves higher than eight-story buildings. More than a quarter of the region's oil output is still shut down.
Gulf Coast refineries account for nearly half the nation's domestic capacity and most of them were affected by the storms.
Several factors are slowing recovery efforts, including a shortage of ships and qualified crews, marine technicians and divers, The New York Times reported Wednesday. Also, finding and fixing broken pipelines along the Gulf's shallows is especially difficult because the water's opaqueness forces divers to blindly feel the ground with their hands until they find a missing section of pipeline, The Times reported.
The 2005 hurricane season was the most active in more than 70 years, producing 25 storms -- an all-time record. Preliminary predictions for the 2006 season, which begins June 1, are calling for more above-average hurricane activity.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
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2007 Hurricane Forecasts Took Blow from Winds and Saharan Dry, Dusty Air
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The key to quieter Atlantic hurricane seasons may be blowing in the wind
Every year, storms over West Africa disturb millions of tons of dust and strong winds carry those particles into the skies over the Atlantic. According to a recent study led by University of Wisconsin-Madison atmospheric scientists, this dust from Africa directly affects ocean temperature, a key ingredient in Atlantic hurricane development.
Smaller storms drop larger overall rainfall in hurricane season
Researchers have found that when residents of the U.S. southeastern states look skyward for rain to alleviate a long-term drought, they should be hoping for a tropical storm over a hurricane for more reasons than one. According to a new study using NASA satellite data, smaller tropical storms do more to alleviate droughts than hurricanes do over the course of a season by bringing greater cumulative rainfall.
Accuracy of past hurricane counts good
Counting tropical storms that occurred before the advent of aircraft and satellites relies on ships logs and hurricane landfalls, making many believe that the numbers of historic tropical storms in the Atlantic are seriously undercounted. However, a statistical model based on the climate factors that influence Atlantic tropical storm activity shows that the estimates currently used are only slightly below modeled numbers and indicate that the numbers of tropical storms in the recent past are increasing, according to researchers.
Frequency of Atlantic hurricanes doubled over last century
About twice as many Atlantic hurricanes form each year on average than a century ago, according to a new statistical analysis of hurricanes and tropical storms in the north Atlantic. The study concludes that warmer sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and altered wind patterns associated with global climate change are fueling much of the increase.
Dusty Hurricanes
Throw gasoline on a fire, and the flames swell to a raging inferno. Throw dirt on a fire, and the flames suffocate. But what happens when you throw dirt on a hurricane? It's a serious question.
Study ties hurricanes to Sahara
A U.S. government study suggests that the relatively tame 2006 hurricane season may have been tied to activity in Africa's Sahara desert.
Did dust bust the 2006 hurricane season forecasts?
A recent NASA study suggests that tiny dust particles may have foiled forecasts that the 2006 hurricane season would be another active one.