Scientists say warming threatening Fla.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida's governor cautiously entered the debate Wednesday over whether rising global temperatures are to blame for an increase in the number of strong hurricanes, meeting with two researchers who say global warming is threatening Florida with a long-term future of more bad storms.

Bush met with Peter Webster and Judith Curry of the Georgia Institute of Technology, who published research last year showing an increase in global hurricane intensity, with a doubling of the number of Category 4 or 5 hurricanes since 1970. That increase coincides with a rise of nearly 1 degree Fahrenheit in ocean surface temperatures, they say.

While they agree with other scientists that the Atlantic basin is in a natural cyclical increase in hurricanes, they argue that can't explain by itself such a dramatic increase in strong storms. Warmer temperatures globally mean warmer water, which is what fuels hurricanes.

"It's very complex, but there's one thing that we do know: if you increase these surface temperatures you're going to get more intense hurricanes," said Curry. "I think we can say — it's not totally conclusive, but with considerable confidence — that there is this connection between global warming and increased global hurricane intensity and the increased number of hurricanes in the north Atlantic."

There isn't scientific consensus that global temperature increases explain increased hurricane intensity, and there are some researchers who say there isn't a continuing long-term pattern of global warming at all.

The debate is something of a storm itself, and Bush joined it cautiously.

"He said they presented some pretty compelling information," said Bush spokesman Russell Schweiss, declining to say whether Bush agrees that global warming is increasing the number of strong hurricanes. "He encouraged them to continue with their research."