"Unknown Hero Saves Many Lives."
That's what one headline reads.
Looks like one of your fellow Oklahomans may be responsible for having helped untold thousands live to see another day.
His name is Max Mayfield, and he's the director of the NOAA's Tropical Prediction Center, National Hurricane Center. Where the Nagin's, Blanco's, Brown's and Bush's caught most of the flack for the aftermath of Katrina, Mayfield seems to finally be catching much praise for his deft forecasting--and for personally pressuring those "leaders" to take action.
And he takes a rational approach to the cause for the severity of these recent hurricanes. In his eyes, this spate of Andrews, Katrinas, and Ritas are nothing more than a cyclical event; NOT global warming:
"Max Mayfield told a congressional panel that he believes the Atlantic Ocean is in a cycle of increased hurricane activity that parallels an increase that started in the 1940s and ended in the 1960s.
"The ensuing lull lasted until 1995, then 'it’s like somebody threw a switch,' Mayfield said. The number and power of hurricanes increased dramatically.
"Under questioning by members of the Senate Commerce subcommittee on disaster prevention and prediction, he shrugged off the notion that global warming played a role, saying instead it was a natural cycle in the Atlantic Ocean that fluctuates every 25 to 40 years."
Dust Bowl common sense. Dust Bowl heroism.
Peace out!
