I have had the chance to meet Kerry Emanuel once at McGill University and I have had further contacts with him during my Masters as well. He's always proven helpful and willing to help. He has a personal
FAQ on hurricanes, very interesting!
He also wrote a book,
"Divine Winds: The History and Science of hurricanes" which would be a nice present for me! (hint hint)
Considered the expert on hurricanes on the thermodynamical point of view, he is one of few scientists who actually have designed their own theoretical framework in describing hurricanes. Does that make him a genius? Probably, but he's a "nice guy" before anything else.
As pointed out in a
recent New York Times article, Emanuel insisted on the strong correlation between recent hurricanes intensification (Katrina, Rita,...) and an oceanographical feature called
the loop current. The loop current maintains some warm sea surface temperature anomalies (i.e. warmer blobs of water) in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, right along hurricane tracks.
Warm waters equal more energy to intensify from. That usually implies bad news along the way...
