Debates over the impact of global warming on weather patterns around the globe have been the source of intense scrutiny in recent years. One such debate that has seen increased attention in the scientific community is: What impact does global warming have on hurricane frequency and intensity? Since the especially intense hurricane season in 2005 that spawned the devastating storms of “Katrina” and “Rita” this question has spawned a lot of media attention as well. However before we can even begin to answer the question posed by the title of the paper we must first explore; What is a hurricane? How it is formed? And we must also examine what is meant by the term global warming? Firstly hurricanes, otherwise known as tropical-cyclones, are formed over warm ocean waters of at least 26.5ºC through depths of at least 45m. There must also be a high Coriolis Effect present such as there is just north and south of the equator. (Moran, 2011) Hurricanes begin as smaller storms called tropical disturbances, if the storm experiences a sufficient loss in surface air pressure coinciding with a strengthening sustained wind the storm is then upgraded to a tropical depression. As the storm continues to intensify and the wind speeds reach 63km/h it then becomes a tropical storm and is finally given a name. When the storm continues to grow in strength and reaches wind speeds of 119km/h it then becomes a hurricane. (Moran,2011) Global warming is described as an increase of average temperature throughout the globe over an extended period of time. Typically when scientists use the term global warming they use it to describe rising temperatures due to human actions such as the burning of fossil fuels and release of aerosols into the atmosph... ... middle of paper ... ...f America, Boston MA: The American Meteorological Society. Larson, C. (2008, September). Global Warming and Hurricanes: Is It a Trend? [Article]. Retrieved from Today's Science database. Larson, C. (2005, August). Hurricanes and Global Warming: Is There a Link? [Article]. Retrieved from Today's Science database. Ming, Z., & Held, I. M. (2010). An Analysis of the Effect of Global Warming on the Intensity of Atlantic Hurricanes Using a GCM with Statistical Refinement. Journal of Climate, 23(23), 6382-6393. doi:10.1175/2010JCLI3837.1 Kunzig, R. (2006). Hurricanes Intensify Global-Warming Debate. Discover, 27(1), 20-23. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Emanuel, K., Sundararajan, R., & Williams, J. (2008). HURRICANES AND GLOBAL WARMING. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 89(3), 347-367. doi:10.1175/BAMS-89-3-347 Retrieved from EBSCOhost
Leading up to the hurricane, many scientists expected the storm to dissipate over the ocean and cause little to no harm (Rappaport). The scientists were relying on faulty equipment that said that due to slow air speed and l...
Hurricanes are born over the warm waters of tropical oceans and are formed by a low-pressure system caused by the heating of water. The heat causes the air to rise and form lower pressures in a feedback loop, making the hurricane stronger. Heavy rain results from a condensation of water and strong winds develop from warm air rushing to the eye of the hurricane. Essentially, greater storms and winds occur when the hurricane feeds of the rising temperature of the water. In addition, researchers studied disturbances and intense thunderstorms in the atmosphere over Western Africa and believe they are partly to blame for extreme hurricanes affecting the United States and Canada. While these are all the main ingredients of a perfectly natural process, they were not the primary causes of the damage done by Hurricane
While it is hard to directly connect Hurricane Sandy to global warming, it is clear that warmer waters and increased sea level contributed to the severity of the storm. Higher sea levels increase the chance that hurricane winds will bring more water on land and storm surges that reach further inland. The Atlantic region is already experiencing sea level rise, and globally this trend is expected to continue. Ocean temperatures are also on the rise, an...
Hurricanes are formed over tropical waters. These intense storms consist of winds over 74 miles per hour (Ahrens & Sampson, 2011). The storms addressed here are Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy. This paper will explore the contrasts and comparisons between these two horrific storms.
Hurricanes form over the ocean. Easterly waves, what hurricanes develop from, are long, narrow regions of low pressure which occur in ocean winds called trade winds. At first, these easterly waves can grow into something called, a tropical depression. A tropical depression occurs when winds are up to 31 mph. Then tropical depressions can be upgraded into a tropical storm if the winds reach speeds of 74 mph or less. Then finally a the storm can be bumped up into a hurricane if the winds reach 75 mph.
These same tropical storms are known as cyclones in the northern Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal, and as typhoons in the western Pacific Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean’s hurricane season points from mid-August to late October and averages five to six hurricanes each year. Hurricanes begin as tropical disturbances in warm ocean waters with temperatures of at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit. These low pressure systems are served by energy from the warm seas. If a storm reaches wind speeds of 38 miles an hour, it is known as a tropical depression. A tropical depression becomes a tropical storm, and is given a name, when its sustained wind speeds top 39 miles an hour. When a storm’s sustained wind speeds reach 74 miles an hour it becomes a hurricane and earns a category rating of 1 to 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Hurricanes are enormous heat engines that generate energy on a staggering scale. They draw heat from warm, moist ocean air and release it through condensation of water vapor in thunderstorms. A current hurricane that occurred was Big Sandy. FEMA became involved with the issue when the hurricane hit Rockaway, New York. President Obama declared a major disaster on October 30, 2012. According to what President Obama said, “We're going to have a lot of work to do. I don't want anybody to feel that somehow this is all going to get cleaned up overnight. We want to make sure that people have realistic expectations. You know, we go through tough times, but we bounce back. And the reason we bounce back is because we look out for one another and we don't leave anybody behind. And so my commitment to the people on this block, the people in this community, and the people of this state is that that same spirit will carry over all the way through until our work is done. In this country, we look out for one another.
The Formation of Hurricanes Hurricanes begin as tropical storms over the warm moist waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans near the equator. (Near the Philippines and the China Sea, hurricanes are called typhoons.) As the moisture evaporates it rises until enormous amounts of heated moist air are twisted high in the atmosphere. The winds begin to circle counterclockwise north of the equator or clockwise south of the equator. The relatively peaceful center of the hurricane is called the eye.
Hurricanes are one of the deadliest and most expensive natural disasters around. They are more common in areas of humid yet moist weather so they are very foreign to certain places. But to the places were hurricanes are the norm, the people take them extremely seriously because they kill people and ruin countless amounts of property. Hurricanes can attack and harm people in so many ways they can kill people, leave them homeless, it leaves children orphaned and disable them. On the west coast of the United States and other places hurricanes aren’t taken as seriously as other more common disasters, such as, earthquakes and volcanoes yet the hurricane can be a lot more damaging that both of those. Hurricanes are cyclones that develop over warm oceans and breed winds that blow yup to 74 miles per hour.
Hurricanes originate as tropical disturbances over warm oceans with trade winds. The tropical turbances intensify into tropical depressions, and eventually into a tropical storm. They only originate in the tropical trade winds because the ocean temperatures are quite warm there. Powered from the heat that the sea gives off, they are steered by the east trade winds and the temperate west ones, as well as by their own ferocious energy. Around their core, winds grow with a tremendous amount of velocity creating violent seas. As they move toward the shore, they move the ocean inward, while spawning tornadoes and producing torrential rains and floods.
They say that warmer waters will increase the power of tropical storms such as hurricanes and typhoons. Again the statistics given are made by a select group of notoriously bias paid scientists. Meaning the waters won’t get warmer. The waters get warmer every year because of the natural warming and cooling of the earth’s environment. This is the way that the earth works because of the shape and rotation of the earth around the sun. Added on to that is the fact that the storms that have been forming nowadays have been the same size as always just in new locations. This is just one e...
Warm ocean water serves as the energy to power hurricanes and other tropical storms. The storms and hurricanes get fiercer with faster winds and denser rain when the upper layer of the ocean gets warm. Climate change causes storms to be more extreme because of the higher heat and added evaporation. Storms in the Atlantic have become even stronger over the past twenty years. The United States has also experienced more powerful one-day storms since the 1980’s that generate rain and snow at an unusual rate (**). With the weather getting warmer, it is expected that heavier snowstorms and rainstorms will happen more often, and that storms around the globe will keep getting stronger. Storms and hurricanes are hazards that can damage buildings, hurt crops, cause floods, and put people’s lives in danger.
What is a hurricane? A hurricane is a tropical cyclone that has a maximum sustained wind of at least 75 mph. The primary energy source for tropical cyclones is the latent heat released when water vapor condenses. Only extremely moist air can supply the energy necessary to spawn and maintain tropical storms, and only very warm air contains enough moisture. Tropical cyclones, therefore, form only over oceans with water temperatures of at least 80 deg F. After they have formed, such storms tend to intensify when passing over warmer water and weaken when passing over colder water.
Hurricanes require the upwelling of warm and moist air for them to keep on going A tropical storm is considered a hurricane when its winds are greater than 74 miles per hour. Hurricanes only occur in the summer months when the water temperature is above 79 degrees Fahrenheit. The lifespan of a hurricane can last about two weeks while traveling over an ocean, and can generate enough energy to travel along the whole Atlantic coast. A hurricane comes to an end when high wind speeds tear the hurricane apart or when there is no longer enough warm moisture to keep it intact. This happens when a hurricane travels over cooler waters or over land masses. Although a hurricane is coming to its end, though, it can still be rejuvenated if it moves to a region that has the warm moisture it needs to survive, or if it joins another storm system. Of all of nature’s forces that exist hurricanes could be considered one of the most powerful of all these forces that can cause tremendous amounts of destruction is such a little amount of time. A hurricane is a powerful whirling storm of winds that measure 200-300 miles in diameter. Hurricanes are an area of low pressure that forms over the oceans in tropical regions in either the North Atlantic Ocean or eastern North Pacific
Hurricanes occur all over the world, at different times, but commonly through June first and late November. However in late August 2005 a catastrophic hurricane struck. This was Hurricane Katrina. With winds traveling over one hundred miles per hour making it a category five on the Saffir- Simpson Hurricane Scale it was said to have cause billions of dollars’ worth of damage. Hurricane Katrina flooded nearly forty thousand homes, and killed at least two thousand people (“Hurricane”). An average category five hurricane has enough energy to power street lamps for more than twenty seven thousand hours (Williams 58). Knowing about Hurricane Katrina, and the devastation of the city in New Orleans would be beneficial. Also, general information on hurricanes can help civilians and people of higher authority better understand and prepare for damage that could once hit their town and community. Because experts know the general information on these storms they can help explain to the public why and how Hurricane Katrina and other hurricanes occur. Hopefully, in the future civilians will know and use this information to their advantage against hurricanes.