El Nino, La Nina and Hurricanes Essay

Florida has been the hardest hit area by hurricanes. Florida has had ten worst hurricanes which

Hurricanes are mainly found in the Atlantic and Caribbean. Hurricanes in the Pacific are called typhoons. A more general term for these storms is a tropical cyclone. Hurricanes are named, and the naming process resets at the beginning

I have always found the ocean to be a very intriguing part of the Earth. There are infinitely many discoveries that have yet to be made about it. My fascination with the ocean sparked the idea to do my class paper on hurricanes and what they are along with their effects. I remember hearing about all the damages from Hurricane Katrina after it hit the coast near New Orleans. The only information I really know about them is what is briefly covered on the news. I thought it would be interesting to discover the true effects they can have on not only people that endure them, but also the environment as it gets ripped to shreds by the plethora of winds and water.

Natural disasters occurring from the climate change could be on the rise. Global warming has been rumored to be causing more hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, heavier monsoonal rains that cause major flooding, mud slides, and other disasters worldwide. A tropical cyclone, also referred to as hurricanes, typhoons, or cyclones, depending on where in the world the cyclone is occurring, are one of the world’s grandest shows of energy provided by nature. Hurricanes are large, swirling, low pressure storms that have sustained winds of over 74 miles an hour and are formed over warm ocean waters (NASA, n.d.). The purpose of this paper is to discuss hurricanes

There is speculation that climate change may have also have contributed to the storms intensity. Global warming may have made Sandy wetter and stronger. Hurricanes and tropical storms are fueled by warm water evaporating into the air. Records indicate that ocean surface temperatures are up 0.9 degrees

Greshko explains that this hurricane season has been so active because atmospheric conditions and surface seas temperatures have been warmer than normal. There have been other major hurricanes to make landfall on the continental US over the years but this season has still been unusual with two category 4 storms hitting land in a small space of time. It seems as though the longer it goes, the more severe it gets. Finally, Greshko concludes this article by talking about the cause of this catastrophic hurricane season being climate change. The climate plays a big role in weather and the warmer conditions will make for much worse tropical storms in the Atlantic. In the future individual will drop more precipitation in the future, since warmer air can hold more water vapor. The warmer temperatures are a result of human activity an if the climate continues to warm up then its predicted that storm surges will become much worse.

Climate change is also having an effect on the rain, snow, and the hurricanes. The strength of hurricanes are getting more and more powerful each year. According to a study done by, "Signs of Climate Change", in the 1950 hurricanes were between and category 2-3

Research increasingly demonstrates how years- or decades-long periods of low hurricane frequency are followed by periods of high frequency: the last decades of the 20th century were one of these low periods, which ended around the turn of the century. Research also shows how, despite these peaks and trenches in hurricane frequency, on average we experience one additional hurricane per year every 30 years, and that the overall energy output of each hurricane is

This caused more snake bites as mice from the higher elevations came to lower elevations to find food and water while their prey (snakes) followed them. In New Mexico, however, the climate turned cooler and wetter. This caused an increase in the bubonic plague, because the weather conditions were ideal for fleas and rodents. “The mountain and pacific states had severe storms that caused $1.1 billion of damage and left 45 plus people dead” (Blue Planet, 2017, table 1). Because of the abnormal warm sea surface temperatures, there were multiple shark attacks off the Oregon coast. This caused the sharks to migrate towards the warm ocean waters. The California coast suffered from continuous violent rain, wind and high tides that eroded the shore. The erosion caused fishermen to notice different species along the coastline that did not belong in that particular area (Gannon, 1986). Also during the famous 1982-1983 El Niño, Hawaii was hit by Hurricane Iwa causing an abundance amount of damage (Blue Planet, 2017). “Perhaps one of the most striking effect of the 1982-1983 El Niño was recorded by David Salstein and Richard Rosten of Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They found that the angular momentum of the Earth shifted slightly as a result of changes in the normal pattern of the jet stream and trade winds. In late January, at El Niño’s peak, the

Nature Magazine said, “Others have talked about the potential that summer sea ice melt and increasingly open waters in the Artic Ocean might be altering the flow of the jet stream that circles the Northern Hemisphere (Nature Magazine).” This was a more complicated to wrap your head around, but it also makes sense that something would also be going on in the water to cause these storms such as Hurricane Sandy or Hurricane Katrina. In the article it also states on this subject that this could be responsible for the reason Hurricane Sandy hit and for many of our past large winter storms as

Hurricanes form during the summer and early fall, ocean water vapor creates energy for warm, intense low pressure areas (“What causes hurricanes?” par.

Cyclones, Hurricanes, and Typhoons, these cyclonic storms are known by many names but are all born from the same mechanism: low pressure systems. Also known as depressions. Thankfully, most hurricanes form only during hurricane season, which is from June 1st to November 30th. Within this season about 85 percent of the most intense hurricanes and 60 percent of minor Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes originate from African easterly waves (NOAA Cyclone Report). These waves, which have a wavelength of 2000 to 2500 kilo-meters, originate close to or from the highlands of Ethiopia, Africa. Not all easterly waves become hurricanes, but the ones that do travel

The 1999 Atlantic hurricane season had five Category 4 hurricanes – the highest number recorded in a single season in the Atlantic basin, later tied in 2005. The season officially began on June 1, and ended on November 30. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin. It was a fairly active season, mostly due to a persistent La Niña that developed in the latter half of 1998. The first storm, Arlene, formed on June 11 to the southeast of Bermuda. It meandered slowly for a week and caused no impact on land. Other tropical cyclones that did not affect land were Hurricane Cindy, Tropical Storm Emily, and Tropical Depression Twelve. Minor impact on land was caused by Hurricanes

As hurricanes form, they tend to pose significant problems and have devastating impacts on the ocean, land, and on society. In the ocean, hurricanes cause strong winds to occur which in turn, has a large impact on the shipping market. Hurricanes cause the wind to change direction around the eye, causing chaotic sea swells and waves in which a ship is not able to steer around because the waves come from all

Tropical hurricanes need to have surface water temperatures to be 26°C or more for them to form. As our oceans get hotter hurricanes are able to form farther out in the sea