Oceans, Hurricanes, and the Climate
SCI 209
Your Name
March 01, 2010
Introduction
Natural disasters occurring from the climate change could be on the rise. Global warming has been rumored to be causing more hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, heavier monsoonal rains that cause major flooding, mud slides, and other disasters worldwide. A tropical cyclone, also referred to as hurricanes, typhoons, or cyclones, depending on where in the world the cyclone is occurring, are one of the world’s grandest shows of energy provided by nature. Hurricanes are large, swirling, low pressure storms that have sustained winds of over 74 miles an hour and are formed over warm ocean waters (NASA, n.d.). The purpose of this paper is to discuss hurricanes
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Beta drift is caused by the Coriolis Effect and tends to have more effect on the storm as it grows due to the increased effect at higher latitudes. Other factors such as high pressure ridges, wind shear, other hurricanes, land masses, and the jet stream also have a steering effect on hurricanes. With all the different factors of propagation, the path a hurricane will take is very difficult to calculate.
Ocean Currents and Hurricanes Ocean currents effect hurricanes far more than hurricanes effect ocean currents. Surface ocean currents carry the warm waters to the hurricane breeding areas and fuel the storms with warm currents along their paths. Cold water currents also play a major role in robbing the storms of one of their sources of fuel when hurricanes pass over the colder currents, like the ones along the eastern U.S. border. Hurricanes with their strong winds cause huge waves, mix warm surface waters and their currents, with the deeper cooler water. Not much is known about what happens to that warmer water once it has been sunk into the depths of the ocean but some suggest that the heat is transported towards the poles via ocean currents (Bettex, n.d.). The Gulf of Mexico’s loop current creates large warm water eddies in the gulf and is likely intensifying hurricanes that pass over them. These eddies are blamed for fueling some of the worst storms ever, like Katrina and Rita ("Ocean Motion and Surface Events", n.d.).
Hurricanes, Storm
First, hurricanes form in warm water. Therefore, states or places closest to the equator will most likely get hurricanes. In different places, it has different names, like a typhoon or a cyclone. Hot air rises making less hot air below. It makes clouds, then circulate to form a hurricane. On the scale, a category 5 hurricane can have winds up to 157mph, maybe even more.
Hurricanes require a certain atmosphere in order to form to the level which makes them disastrous. Most often they will form over tropical waters where the winds are light, there is high humidity and the surface temperature of the water is exceedingly warm, typically 80° F. These specified conditions explain why most hurricanes come from the tropical and subtropical North Atlantic and Pacific where these conditions are prevailing through the duration
Most hurricanes that hit the United States begin either in the Caribbean or the Atlantic. Many of the worst start as seedlings coming off the coast of Africa. Like all tropical cyclones, a hurricane needs the warm water of the tropics, which feeds a storm with energy, in order to form. Tropical cyclones are like giant engines that use warm, moist air as fuel. That is why they form only over warm ocean waters near the equator. The warm, moist air over the ocean rises upward from near the surface. Because this air moves up and away from the surface, there is less air left near the surface. Another way to say the same thing is that the warm air rises,
Hurricanes usually form over ocean areas near the Equator during summer months, since the ocean surface is at its warmest. The heat and moisture from the ocean provides the hurricane energy, and maintains it after its been formed. In this case, Hurricane Sandy travelled up north, growing colossal and relentlessly from the energy. However, if the supply of heat or moisture from the ocean is cut off, it will weaken the strength of the hurricane. Therefore, a hurricane is usually most destructive when it first moves over land. When a hurricane passes over land or cold ocean water, it loses its energy source of evaporating water and slowly dissipates.
There are a few necessary components required in order for a hurricane to develop. These components consist of warm tropical water (typically 27°C/80°F), low air pressure, and winds that do not change speed or direction. All it takes is a slight change in a wind current to tear apart a hurricane. As warm tropical water evaporates and condenses in the atmosphere thunderstorms will develop; this phase is called a tropical disturbance. The constant evaporation of water and rising of warm air will lead to an area of very low air pressure, which will later become the eye of the hurricane (NASA 2014). Surface winds will spin around the area of low pressure due to the Coriolis Effect, which is the apparent deflection of wind currents due to the rotation of the solid Earth moving separately from the atmosphere (Britt 2005). When the winds cause the thunderstorms to rotate at a speed below 38 mph it is a
Within the past four months, we have had three devastating hurricanes hit the United States and the Caribbean. Hurricane is the name given to storms that form in the Atlantic or Eastern North Pacific. The scientific name is a tropical cyclone. Hurricanes are massive storms that prowl tropical seas. They usually form during the end of summer to the beginning of fall when vast stretches of the tropical ocean are heated by the sun. The end of the summer brings the most favorable conditions for hurricanes. Rising sea temperatures caused by global warming may have an impact on the number of hurricanes that hit landfall this year. To understand why the United States gets hit by numerous hurricanes each year, one must travel
The question still remains, how does climate change actually affect these hurricanes? Global warming is known for causing higher ocean temperatures; It is predicted temperature would rise by 3° to 5°C (34° to 41° Fahrenheit) by the year 2100. Respectively, the number of hurricanes may also flourish expeditiously since hurricanes are formed when there is warm bodies of water. With the increase in temperature, ice would likewise melt worldwide from sources such as: mountain glaciers, polar ice caps, ice sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland, and the Arctic sea ice. In fact, scientists anticipate sea levels to rise by at least 25 meters (82 feet) by the year 2100. Consequently, when there is a rising sea level, it is known to cause a more
Hurricanes first start out as a tropical depression and then gain strength into a tropical storm. When a tropical storm reaches 74+ miles per hour they turn into a category 1 hurricane, they increase in intensity, they go all the way through a category 5 hurricane. Category 1 hurricanes have a wind speed of up to 95 mph. A category 2 hurricane has wind speeds of up to 110 mph. Category 3 hurricanes reach up to 129 mph. A category 4 hurricane reaches up to 156 mph. The deadliest hurricane, a category 5 exceeds wind speeds anything above 157 mph. A hurricanes only form over warm waters. Damp air fuels the forming storm. The warm air gets water from the ocean and becomes moist. This moist air rises towards the surface, when air from surrounding
It’s important to understand Geoscience while studying hurricanes. By understanding Geoscience, we understand how the earth heats and cools and this plays a major role in the creation of hurricanes. Hurricanes form when an area of warm water heats the air above it, causing that air to rise. This creates an area of low pressure. The higher pressure around this area pushes new air in, which heats up and also rises. This flow of air causes the clouds to swirl. If the storm is in the northern hemisphere,
Hurricanes are the most powerful storm on earth. The speed of a hurricane is very quick. The text states, “To be classified as a hurricane the wind from rotating storm must reach at least 74 miles per hour, through the strongest hurricanes will have winds in excess of 150 miles per hour.’’ In different hemispheres the winds of a hurricane rotate differently. The text states, “In the northern hemisphere the winds rotate counterclockwise. In the southern hemisphere, they rotate clockwise.’’ Some hurricanes have different sizes. The text also states, “Typical hurricanes are about 300 miles wide, although they vary considerably in size.’’ Usually, the strongest hurricanes are in warm seas because with atmospheric conditions that allows the storm to rotate
Hurricanes are the most destructive storms in the world whose formation process and devastation are always fascinating to human beings. In fact, they have no difference from giant turbins activated by pressure and warm air. As high temperature, most air rises and generate low pressure below until it cools down, vapor forms clouds at the center, called “the eye”. Mean while, surrounding high air pressure pushes it into low pressure area and swirls to take it place. As soon as it
Hurricanes are huge rotating storms that form over the ocean near the equator. Hurricanes cause high winds, tidal flooding, and heavy rain. Winds determine how powerful the storm is going to be. Rain causes flooding which causes most destruction. Hurricanes form over warm bodies of water such as oceans.
Warm water is crucial thus why we only see hurricanes in tropical regions that are close to the Equator.
In order for as hurricane to form and do devastating damage, it needs multiple components. One of the components of the hurricane is the speed and direction of the winds. Hurricanes can only form when the speed of the winds are all equivalent, because if one is faster than another, the flow of the winds will break and the winds will slow down. Also, it is important that the winds are going the same direction, because if they go in opposite directions, the winds will collide and the winds will fade away. When all of those components are created, then the winds gather up in an part of the ocean where the water is warm, and from there, thunderstorms form. When the winds become a thunderstorm, it will gain higher winds and can become a hurricane.
In order to understand how global warming affects weather, more specifically hurricanes, one must understand what and how a hurricane is formed. A hurricane is when the low tropical pressure center gains enough energy and large pressure gradient to sustain winds of 74 miles an hour or more. Naturally, a hurricane is formed by the process of solar radiation, heating the air above warm oceans, creating a decrease in pressure; In addition to when the water is evaporated (adding humidity to the air, thus, decreasing the pressure more). This creates various convection cells and thunderstorms. As a result, from the widespread thunderstorm activity, it can merge into large updrafts, which is part of a huge convection cell.