225BatonRouge.com

Two of the deadliest storms to hit the Louisiana Gulf coast in the last 100 years made landfall within one month of each other this year, but Kam biu-Liu was not too surprised. The LSU geology professor is widely regarded as the Father of Paleotempestology, the study of ancient hurricanes from sedimentary samples of offshore lakes.

Coastal-development planners and insurance-risk assessors now use the LSU professor's research to predict the frequency of future storms.

Liu's findings show Category 4 and 5 storms make landfall in the U.S. about every 300-600 years. Unfortunately, the past millennium was a fairly inactive hurricane period when compared to other timeframes, Liu says. He believes global warming could trigger another hyperactive period for storms.

During the 1970s and 1980s when there were few incidences of intense hurricanes, populations exploded along the Gulf Coast, the same populations now reeling from Katrina and Rita.

"We need to act now on global warming," Liu says. "Elected officials need a long-term perspective when planning for hurricanes, but they usually don't think beyond the four- or six-year election cycles."