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Home arrow Hurricanes

Global Warming and Hurricanes

Hurricanes and Global Warming

Ocean heat is the key ingredient for hurricane formation. Scientists hold the belief that more heat can generate more storms and more intense hurricanes.
 
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How Hurricanes Form

The physics of hurricanes are complex and full of variables but the sun beating down on Earth is the primary thing that gets them going.

Summer heat warms the ocean's surface and spurs evaporation. As heat and moisture rise into the atmosphere, billowing clouds, scattered showers, and thunderstorms form.

As the thunderstorms multiply, they can get picked up by low-pressure systems drifting through equatorial waters, forming a tropical depression.

The spin of the Earth causes the winds within the storm to whirl around the center of the low pressure. This spinning can form an eye of a storm.

The strongest part of a hurricane is the eye wall, on the edge of the calm center. The size of the eye wall can vary, and the intensity of the storms can vary depending on how much heat is availabe and other factors such as high altitude winds.

According to scientists, if global temperatures continue to rise, it is reasonable to assume that hurricane activity will increase, as there is more heat to drive the storms.

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The Studies

Recent studies have found that hurricanes and typhoons have become stronger and longer-lasting over the past 30 years. These upswings correlate with a rise in sea surface temperatures.


The Articles

There have been many articles written recently about the impacts of global warming on hurricanes.
 
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