If arguments within the hurricane community were the Star Wars series, then the battle over the relationship between hurricanes and global warming would be Episode I: A New Strife.
Meanwhile, the extraordinary fight that has erupted of late at the National Hurricane Center--pitting now 23 of the center's staff against new director Bill Proenza--would be Episode II: Attack of the Forecasters.
In all seriousness: The last thing the hurricane research and forecasting community needed was another of these battles. Sad. Anyways, you can read the hurricane staff complaint petition here (PDF). It says in part:
An unfortunate public debate is now occurring over the ability of the National Hurricane Center to meet its mission. The undersigned staff of the National Hurricane Center has concluded that the center needs a new Director, and with the heart of the hurricane season fast approaching, urges the Department of Commerce to make this happen as quickly as possible. The effective functioning of the National Hurricane Center is at stake. The staff
of the National Hurricane Center would like nothing more than to return its focus to its primary mission of protecting life and property from hazardous tropical weather, and leave the political arena it now finds itself in.
The latest report from the Miami Herald is here.
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And yet Proenza is adamant that he will not step down. Thanks for the links to Jeff Masters & Maggie Kieper's commentary and analysis on the QuickSCAT debate - it proved to be helpful in sorting out some of the issues. What does your crystal ball say will be the outcome of this flap?
It appears that Proenza has had a change of heart over the weekend. Last week he was adamant that he wouldn't leave and just now CNN is reporting that he is stepping down as director to some as-yet unnamed position.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/09/hurricane.official/index.html
I agree that the whole thing is sad. These sort of all-too-human follies end up stealing the headlines and undermining the critical mission of the organization. In keeping with your post above about Episodes I & II, it seems to do so from both within as well as without, the latter by eroding the public's confidence that such centers are run competently (ref. NASA, for more). Highly unfortunate on all counts.
(BTW, "Storm World" has been a great read thus far.)