Tropical Storms

Global warming’s contribution to warmer waters and Earth’s atmosphere brings the following idea to our attention.  Intense hurricanes!!!  Hurricanes rely on warm, tropical water as their main energy source.  Trying to identify hurricane behavior is an extremely difficult process, but researchers are just beginning to feel like they are capable of determining it.  Due to Earth’s increasing temperatures and levels of greenhouse gases, the strongest hurricanes in the present climate may be upstaged by even more intense hurricanes over the next century.  Most hurricanes are unable to reach their maximum potential intensity because they weaken over cooler ocean regions, as well as over land.  Due to warmer climate and an increase in sea surface temperatures, hurricanes are expected to be stronger.  Both sea surface temperatures and atmospheric temperatures in surrounding areas of the storm are among the most important factors of how intense the hurricane will be.  Global warming will significantly affect these two factors.  What we do not know is if we will see more storms because of extra energy, or will the storms become more intense but fewer in numbers.  There are approximately an average number of 90 tropical storms a year, but there is no clear trend in the annual numbers.  The graph below illustrates the annual frequency of North Atlantic tropical storms documented from approximately the 1930’s to 2007.     

Works Cited 

"Does Global Warming Cause Hurricanes? : Discovery News." Discovery News: Earth, Space, Tech, Animals, Dinosaurs, History. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. <http://news.discovery.com/earth/does-global-warming-cause-hurricanes.html>. 

"Global Warming and Hurricanes." NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. <http://www.research.noaa.gov/spotlite/archive/spot_gfdl.html>. 

"Google Image Result for Http://www.lizasreef.com/HOPE FOR THE OCEANS/Images HFTO/Hurricane.jpg." Google. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.lizasreef.com/HOPE%20FOR%20THE%20OCEANS/Images%20HFTO/Hurricane.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.lizasreef.com/HOPE%20FOR%20THE%20OCEANS/oceans_global_warming.htm&usg=__8Xvc20cZnhK-pvN3-x3q4oHDXFI=&h=353&w=471&sz=34&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=GaWU_YWRYWFoqM:&tbnh=152&tbnw=211&prev=/images?q=global+warming+hurricanes&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&gbv=2&biw=1255&bih=609&tbs=isch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=152&vpy=257&dur=418&hovh=160&hovw=213&tx=176&ty=37&ei=gEvFTI75K4L6lwfQ44gD&oei=gEvFTI75K4L6lwfQ44gD&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0>. 

"What Is the Link between Hurricanes and Global Warming?" Skeptical Science: Examining Global Warming Skepticism. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. <http://www.skepticalscience.com/hurricanes-global-warming.htm>.