In recent years we have seen powerful storms ravage our coasts, and in 2015 Hurricane Patricia grew from a tropical storm to a powerful category 5 hurricane in less than 24 hours. Lee (2015) discussed Hurricane Patricia in an article published on National Geographic, and contributed the swift intensification as partly due to the deep warm waters off the pacific coast of Mexico. This article made me question how global warming will impact powerful “warm core” storms. This thought led me to an article by Roach (2005), which discussed how global warming is projected to impact hurricanes. Roach (2005) discussed that over the last three decades the duration and strength of hurricanes have grown by 50 percent. The article sites that one of the key ingredients for powerful storms is warm water, and considering the unusually warm waters and the powerful-swift intensification of Hurricane Patricia, warming seas could have considerable impacts on storms in the future.
If ocean temperature continue to rise as forecasted, because of the carbon we are emitting into the atmosphere, I imagine we will see more intense storms in the future. Hurricane Patricia grew in strength so quickly, that I fear that our ability to forecast storms in a timely manner will decrease with the storm’s ability to rapidly change. Our coasts are already in jeopardy from warming and rising seas. Homes along the coast are vulnerable to powerful storms, and I fear that homes more inland will experience storm threats as coastlines that now exist vanish as the ocean level rises. Storm surge will probably be larger and more damaging as winds increase. The main reason our oceans are warming is because of our carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. We, as a society, have the power to influence future storms in a sense, if we decrease the carbon we are emitting into the air. Hurricanes are just one of the many scary consequences the world will face as temperatures rise. We just bought a house near the North Carolina Coast, but inland enough to be out of the flood zone. However, I do have a fear that in 30 or 40 years my home may not be in the “safe zone” it is now.
References:
Lee, J. (2015, October 23). What Makes Patricia the Most Powerful Hurricane Ever? Retrieved June 19, 2016, from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/10/151023-patricia-hurricane-strongest-history-weather-atmosphere/
Roach, J. (2005, August 4). Is Global Warming Making Hurricanes Worse? Retrieved June 19, 2016, from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/0804_050804_hurricanewarming.html
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.