Severity Of Hurricanes Essay

Increasing Severity of Hurricanes

The global temperature over the past century has risen 0.6 °C (1°F) while the ocean temperature has increased 0.1°C (0.18°F) (“Sea Temperature Rise,” n.d.). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has averaged all land and sea temperatures from 1880 to 2012 and have calculated that temperatures have risen approximately 0.85°C (1.53°F) (University Corporation For Atmospheric Research, 2014). This may not seem nearly as significant because on an average day the difference between the daily high and low may be as great as twenty degrees. These increased averages are not weather changes, which are trivial, but changes to climate, observed trends over twenty year periods, that should not be taken lightly.

This research paper focuses on the formation of hurricanes, but the basic mechanics of formation are identical for typhoons except for their location of genesis. Hurricanes begin ‘life’ as low-pressure systems off of Africa’s west coast in the North Atlantic (near the Canary Islands)( Netting, R., 2012, March 8). Most commonly, these low-pressure systems dissipate before they reach the next stage of development. If the low-pressure system evolves into a line of thunderstorms that produces a circular wind flow with maximum sustained winds between twenty-five to thirty-five mph, it achieves tropical depression status and receives a number (i.e. 1, 2, 3, etc. in the order of it’s formation for that hurricane season) (“What’s the Difference…Hurricane?,” 2010, July 22). Much like the previous transition, many tropical depressions will dissipate in the North Atlantic. When the storm’s cyclonic circulation becomes more organized with minimum sustained winds thirty-nine mph (“What’s the Difference…Hurricane?,” 2010, July 22). At this point in time the depression is named. Obviously, not all tropical storms achieve hurricane status. If sustained winds reach seventy-four mph, the cyclone is now classified as a full-fledged hurricane (“What’s the Difference…Hurricane?,” 2010, July 22). The new hurricane may run into the east coast of North America

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