Al Gore was quick to point out that “we’re seeing consequences that scientists have long predicted might be associated with continued global warming.” - Al Gore, 5/6/08.

The lastest storm in Burma with its tragic death toll is not unique, nor is it indicative of more severe weather caused by AGW or human caused climate change. It just is what it is a tragic event. Current estimates place the death toll at somewhere around 70,000, it could go up or down, its too early to tell. The table below lists other big deadly storms from history and we will see where this storm fits in. Let’s hope it doesn’t make the top 10.

Lest someone accuse me of downplaying or minimizing the impact of more recent stoms, I do feel for the victims. BUT, we would be in better shape to help people caught up in these catastrophes if we weren’t caught up in money wasting schemes to try to prevent the unpreventable.

I also think that it is unsavvory, at best, for people like Al Gore to try to use these tragedies to further his cause. (its also unacceptable for skeptics to minimize the scale of the disaster.)  While Al and his friends play the blame-game, let’s cheer for the people who respond with immediate aid for the victimes.

Rank:	Name	Areas of Largest Loss:	Year:	Ocean Area:	Deaths:
1.	Great Bhola Cyclone,	Bangladesh	1970	Bay of Bengal	550,000
2.	Hooghly River Cyclone,	India and Bangladesh	1737	Bay of Bengal	350,000
3.	Haiphong Typhoon	Vietnam	1881	West Pacific	300,000
3.	Coringa, India	Bay of Bengal	1839	Bay of Bengal	300,000
5.	Backerganj Cyclone,	Bangladesh	1584	Bay of Bengal	200,000
6.	Great Backerganj Cyclone	Bangladesh	1876	Bay of Bengal	200,000
7.		Chittagong, Bangladesh	1897	Bay of Bengal	175,000
8.	Super Typhoon Nina,	China	1975	West Pacific	171,000
9.	Cyclone 02B,	Bangladesh	1991	Bay of Bengal	140,000
10.	Great Bombay Cyclone,	India	1882	Arabian Sea	100,000
11.	Hakata Bay Typhoon,	Japan	1281	West Pacific	65,000
12.		Calcutta, India	1864	Bay of Bengal	60,000
13.		Swatlow, China	1922	West Pacific	60,000
14.		Barisal, Bangladesh	1822	Bay of Bengal	50,000
15.		Sunderbans coast, Bangladesh	1699	Bay of Bengal	50,000
16.	Bengal Cyclone,	Calcutta, India	1942	Bay of Bengal	50,000
17.		Canton, China	1862	West Pacific	37,000
18.		Backerganj (Barisal), Bangladesh	1767	Bay of Bengal	30,000
19.		Barisal, Bangladesh	1831	Bay of Bengal	22,000
20.	Great Hurricane	Lesser Antilles Islands	1780	Atlantic	22,000

Gore quote from (http://www.businessandmedia.org/printer/2008/20080506160205.aspx)

List of storms comes from the Weather Underground

Your response: