Hurricane Season Begins Today

Hurricane season officially begins today, June 1, and runs through November. Forecasters at the National Weather Service are predicting that 2007 could be particularly turbulent. They expect 13 to 17 tropical storms, with seven to 10 of them becoming hurricanes and three to five of those in the "strong" category.

After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita pounded the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005 the nation was braced for another hard year in 2006, but an unexpected El Nino trend kept weather conditions calmer than expected last year. Meanwhile, scientists continue to explore the relationship between hurricanes and global warming.

We know that rising air and water temperatures worldwide are creating more frequent and severe hurricanes, and while scientists debate what may be causing the temperature changes there's no disagreement about the destructive force of the storms. Learn more about what causes hurricanes like Katrina.

_{Photo of Hurricane Katrina approaching the Louisiana coast, courtesy of NASA}