Formations of Hurricanes (Research Paper Sample)

Hurricanes
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Formations of Hurricanes
A hurricane is a large storm that has very strong winds spiraling upwards and inwards at speeds of 70 mph to 200 mph. They can be large as 600 miles across. Normally, they last for about a week moving over the ocean at about 20 miles per hour. As they move across the ocean waters, they gather energy and heat through contact. They rotate in a clockwise direction in the southern hemisphere, and anticlockwise direction in the northern hemisphere around it center called an "eye." The eye is the calmest with fair weather and light winds. Upon reaching the land strong winds, large waves and heavy rain can damage property. The other parts of the hurricane are the eye wall and the rain band. The eye wall is composed of thick Columbus clouds and it surrounds the eye. At the eye, the wall is where rainfall is heaviest and winds most intense. The rain band is composed of many thunderstorms that circulate out of the eye ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "DOI" : "10.1126/science.1164396", "ISBN" : "0036-8075", "ISSN" : "0036-8075", "PMID" : "18974337", "abstract" : "Alternative interpretations of the relationship between sea surface temperature and hurricane activity imply vastly different future Atlantic hurricane activity.", "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Vecchi", "given" : "Gabriel a", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Swanson", "given" : "Kyle L", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Soden", "given" : "Brian J", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Science (New York, N.Y.)", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issue" : "5902", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2008" ] ] }, "page" : "687-689", "title" : "Whither hurricane activity?", "type" : "article-journal", "volume" : "322" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=a792c24e-7ab2-481b-a6f9-e173e7a6aa02", "/documents/?uuid=7e931aaa-bd8e-48f4-9daf-cfe28254bf7a" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "(Vecchi, Swanson, & Soden, 2008)", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "(Vecchi, Swanson, & Soden, 2008)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Vecchi, Swanson, & Soden, 2008)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }(Vecchi, Swanson, & Soden, 2008). All these parts of the hurricane play a role in condensation and evaporation cycle which provides the entire system with energy.
Hurricanes are sometimes named as the most devastating disasters affecting people on earth. They have a major impact on both the human and physical environment. The physical environment is defined as the structural features of air, sea and land. Hurricanes are always destructive to this environment, due to torrential rainfall and high-velocity winds. Low pressure coupled with high-velocity winds lead to the formation of tidal waves. Tidal waves are usually many meters tall that end up damaging buildings and coastal homes and also crashing against coastal areas. They go further to damage boats anchored in harbors.
Hurricanes can form only in warm ocean water of about 800 or warmer. The atmosphere should be able to cool off very quickly as one goes higher. It is also necessary for the air to be blowing in the same direction and at the same speed for it to rise above the ocean surface. As the air rises winds above the storm, flow outwards. It is worth noting that hurricanes form between 5 to 15 degrees south and north of the equator. What causes it to spin is the Coriolis force and it get weaker as one gets nearer the equator. This means that hurricane formation is impossible near the equator.
The most devastating element of the hurricane is the storm surge. As the winds spiral around the storm over the ocean, they end up forming a mound of water at the storms center.
Global Warming Affecting Hurricane Frequency and Intensity
It had been noted that there had been an increase in Atlantic hurricane activity since high-quality satellite data became available which was in the early 1980s. This includes data on a number of strongest storms (category 4 and 5), intensity, duration, and frequency. Unavailability of quality data has what has limited the assessment of long-term trends in hurricane activity.
However, the recent data that has been collected has shown an increase in hurricane activity linked to the rise in sea surface temperatures. The rise in local sea surface temperatures has been attributed to some factors including emissions of greenhouse gasses by industries, natural variability, and particulate pollution. However, it is still early to conclude that there is a strong relationship between these factors and the intensity and frequency of hurricanes since not much research has been done regarding this topic. That said, it may be that global warming has already caused changes that have not yet been detected because of the small magnitude of the changes. These changes might have not also been observed due to model-estimated changes that have considerable uncertainty or due to observational limitations.
It has been predicted that by the end of the 21st century, global warming will cause hurricanes to occur more frequently and become more intense on average by 3% to 12% ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "DOI" : "10.1175/2009MWR3174.1", "ISBN" : "1520-0493", "ISSN" : "0027-0644", "abstract" : "The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season is summarized and the year\u2019s tropical cyclones are described. Sixteen named storms formed in 2008. Of these, eight became hurricanes with five of them strengthening into major hurricanes (category 3 or higher on the Saffir\u2013Simpson hurricane scale). There was also one tropical de- pression that did not attain tropical storm strength. These totals are above the long-term means of 11 named storms, 6 hurricanes, and 2 major hurricanes. The 2008 Atlantic basin tropical cyclones produced significant impacts from the Greater Antilles to the Turks and Caicos Islands as well as along portions of the U.S. Gulf Coast. Hurricanes Gustav, Ike, and Paloma hit Cuba, as did Tropical Storm Fay. Haiti was hit by Gustav and adversely affected by heavy rains from Fay, Ike, and Hanna. Paloma struck the Cayman Islands as a major hurricane, while Omar was a major hurricane when it passed near the northern Leeward Islands. Six con- secutive cyclones hit the United States, including Hurricanes Dolly, Gustav, and Ike. The death toll from the Atlantic tropical cyclones is approximately 750. A verification of National Hurricane Center official forecasts during 2008 is also presented. Official track forecasts set records for accuracy at all lead times from 12 to 120 h, and forecast skill was also at record levels for all lead times. Official intensity forecast errors in 2008 were below the previous 5-yr mean errors and set records at 72\u2013120 h. 1.", "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Brown", "given" : "Daniel P.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Beven", "given" : "John L.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Franklin", "given" : "James L.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Blake", "given" : "Eric S.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Monthly Weather Review", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issue" : "5", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2010" ] ] }, "page" : "1975-2001", "title" : "Atlantic Hurricane Season of 2008", "type" : "article-journal", "volume" : "138" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=1d13d578-dbab-4fb4-b9f5-1496bb90b569", "/documents/?uuid=9bdc4582-8e89-4af9-a1d5-5bee152c02c7" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "(Brown, Beven, Franklin, & Blake, 2010)", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "(Brown, Beven, Franklin, & Blake, 2010)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Brown, Beven, Franklin, & Blake, 2010)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }(Brown, Beven, Franklin, & Blake, 2010). When interpreted, this implies that there will be an even greater increase in the destructive power per storm.
Most people tend to assume that warmer sea surface temperatures that are affected by global warming favor not only the development but the intensification of hurricanes, not knowing that the formation of hurricanes and its intensity is also influenced by vertical thermodynamic properties of the atmosphere. Due to such factors it is preferred that observational reconstructions and climate models are used when venturing into the relationship between sea surface temperatures and the intensity and frequency of hurricanes. It has been found that local sea surface temperatures are inadequate for deducing any signs of change in both the frequency and intensity of the hurricane but long term changes in frequency and intensity of hurricanes are highly connected to regional warming. Regions that are warmer than the tropical average are mostly characterized by hurricanes of high frequency and intensity.
Effects of Hurricanes on the Community
Hurricanes bring about heavy torrential rainfall, which upon falling on an unstable hillside can bring about landslides and mudslides. If these happen to occur crops and buildings are destroyed. Powerful winds together with torrential rains damage buildings and homes. They also cause the death of livestock and crops usually by drowning and uprooting. They can even go further to damage bridge...