With the scary effects of hurricane Harvey seen across Texas, and the approaching hurricane Irma soon to hit Florida, hurricanes have been ever-present in the media. From Youtube videos to news forecasts, hurricane information is in the forefront of nearly everyone's minds. One thing I haven't heard discussed, however, is the possible effects that Climate Change have on these hurricanes. Of course, this makes sense, as there are more important things to talk about, namely safety. But since that has been drilled into our brains for the past week or so, I wanted to deviate from this trend to clear up some possible misconceptions or questions people may have about hurricanes, and the effect that Climate Change has on them.
Has this happened before?
It's easy to look at the three hurricanes barreling towards the United States and Mexico and think, "It's all over." But the truth is, it's not, at least not yet. In 1998, something very similar happened in the Atlantic Ocean. Four hurricanes, named Georges, Ivan, Jeanne, and Carl, were spotted on satellite at the same time. This has happened before, so it's not something to have a heart attack over. However, this does NOT mean that we shouldn't be worried about the effects Climate Change has on hurricanes. Over the past twenty years, scientists HAVE noticed a steady increase in the force of hurricanes, which is likely because of Climate Change.
Now that we have that out of the way, let's take a look at some of the possible effects many scientists believe Climate Change has on hurricanes.
How exactly does Climate Change affect hurricanes?
One of the largest ways Climate Change effects hurricanes is in terms of their strength. This happens for a few different reasons:
(Thanks to time.com for providing the information in this section. Check out their article on the subject by clicking here.)
Warmer air- as we all know by Climate Changes more popular and slightly less accurate name "global-warming" the atmosphere around the Earth is slowly getting warmer and warmer. When a hurricane forms, it starts by gathering warm air. This warm air could be thought of the hurricanes "energy source." And, the more warm air in the atmosphere, the more "energy" the hurricane has. This results in more damage, and wetter storms.
Warmer water- after a hurricane starts building up hot air, warm water is what sustains it. As some of this water is always evaporating, much of it also gets caught in the storm, and eventually dumps back down during a hurricane, creating much more intense rainfall.
Another way climate change affects hurricanes is in the path that they take. As we know, the ocean is made up of many different currents, which are controlled by temperatures in different regions. As these temperatures change (because of Climate Change) so do the currents. And because Hurricanes tend to stay along certain currents, this can pose a serious problem. In a recent study (which you can check out here), it has been proposed that Climate Change has been causing warmer currents to move along the North American coast. As we know, hurricanes like to travel along warm water, so as this continues to change, hurricanes begin moving farther and farther up our coasts. Doing more and more damage along the way.
There are a few other, very serious effects that Climate Change has on hurricanes, but I don't have enough space to talk about them here. If you would like to see the rest of them, make sure to check out Time's article on the subject (which again, you can see by clicking here)
Does Climate Change make hurricanes more frequent?
Short answer: we don't know. Monitoring in recent years has suggested that the amount of hurricanes each year has gone up. However, scientists are not sure if this is strictly because of Climate Change, or if there is some other factor coming into play. Some argue that our monitoring of these hurricanes has just gotten more accurate, so we have been able to detect more storms. The change in hurricane frequency has been highly debated over the recent years, so right now it is impossible to say if there has been any substantial change, whether it be because of Climate Change or not.
Why should I be worried about this?
If you're living in the northern part of the world, like I am, then you may not be too worried about this increase in hurricane strength. It's extremely unlikely that hurricanes would ever hit near us, so why worry? Well, even if a hurricane doesn't hit your area, it can still affect you. The damage done by a hurricane can cost up to billions of dollars to repair. These costs can have a serious effect on a country's economy, and put the U.S. and other countries much farther into the debt we already have.
If you're one who doesn't care much about the effect of hurricanes, I urge you to consider this: if you or your mother, father, friend, brother, sister, grandparent, or anyone you loved was trapped in the middle of a hurricane, would you still not care? If answered seriously, I think all of us would care. That's the reality that hundreds of thousands of people face every year.
Conclusion
Hurricanes are an extremely serious issue. They cause endless destruction, and break up countless families and friends. They take lives, and forever change the way someone might live. No one ever thinks of a hurricane as a good thing, so why would we want them to be stronger, or happen more frequently? We shouldn't.
Yes, some may argue that there have been some solutions put into place, like expensive sea walls and sandbags. These are just band-aids, for a much deeper, more serious cut. In the coming years, even these solutions won't be enough to protect some of our most populated cities, and then what? We can try to delay the inevitable all we want, but eventually there will be serious consequences. It has never been a better time to act against Climate Change. By limiting the amount of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, we can work to stop these terrible hurricanes, and save countless lives in turn.
Now, if you still don't believe me, or are skeptical of the information I have put in this post, I highly, highly urge you to check out the links I have provided below. All of them can bring you to more reputable sources on the topic. And if a hurricane does happen to hit your area, make sure to stay safe. Thanks for reading.
All credit for information used in this post goes to:
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/08/human-influence-may-prolong-ocean-cycle-gave-birth-harvey
http://time.com/4933743/hurricane-irma-climate-change-global-warming/
https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/four-hurricanes-once-atlantic-basin-20130925
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/08/549280066/hurricanes-are-sweeping-the-atlantic-whats-the-role-of-climate-change
https://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/global-warming-and-hurricanes/
https://www.skepticalscience.com/hurricanes-global-warming.htm
Images:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2017/09/08/while-irma-takes-aim-florida-hurricanes-jose-and-katia-also-threatening-land/644946001/
http://abcnews.go.com/US/hurricane-irma-numbers/story?id=49677062
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/26/us/hurricane-harvey-landfall/index.html
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/hurricanes/en/
https://weatherblog.kshb.com/page/137/
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_current
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/26/us/hurricane-harvey-landfall/index.html
https://www.skepticalscience.com/hurricanes-global-warming.htm
https://www.zazzle.com/dollar+sign+stickers
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/26/us/hurricane-harvey-landfall/index.html
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seawall.jpg
https://www.inman.com/next/real-estate-agents-using-apps-wearable-tech-to-stay-safe/
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