The name Bangladesh often conjures up images of flooding and death.

Unfortunately, Florida's way up there with the impoverished Asian nation when it comes to future risks from changing weather patterns, say some of the nation's top weather experts."Florida is taking the brunt of global warming," Judith Curry said.

"So maybe they'd want to take the lead" in finding a solution, Peter Webster, Curry's colleague at the Georgia Institute of Technology, chimed in.

The two met Wednesday with the Tallahassee Democrat editorial board. The scientists published a landmark study in the journal Science last year that showed that the number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has nearly doubled the past 35 years, which they attribute to warmer ocean temperatures.

At the invitation of the National and Florida Wildlife Federations, the two were in town to share those findings with Gov. Jeb Bush and gubernatorial hopefuls Charlie Crist and Tom Gallagher. (Gallagher couldn't make it.)

On the day before the start of hurricane season, the scientists said Bush greeted them with an interest and understanding of the issues. He told them the past two storm seasons had changed his life.

"He felt that they presented some pretty compelling information," Russell Schweiss, a spokesman for the governor, said. "By and large, the governor certainly felt that it's something that needs to be continued to be researched and investigated. There's some disagreement, which makes the policy issues harder to address."

The environmental groups that invited the scientists hope their visit will spark some state-based policy initiatives to combat global warming at a time when the federal government has not mandated changes, but rather encouraged businesses to adopt less-polluting practices.

Sceptics dispute the reality and severity of human-induced global warming. A majority of scientists agree that it's taking place, although they sometimes disagree on the details.

Curry and Webster's research indicates that around the world, there are fewer storms than in years past, but they're getting stronger. The Atlantic Ocean is the only exception: it's seeing more and stronger storms.

"Florida should be out there," Curry said "since you're going to be the chief victims."

Contact reporter Julian Pecquet at (850) 599-2307 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Originally published June 1, 2006

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