Hurricanes are a means to transfer heat from the equator to the poles. After waters off the coast of Africa are warmed to more than 81 degrees Fahrenheit, with the right combination of winds and accumulated thunderstorms, a hurricane is born. The water temperature is essential, but is the winds that play the significant role. If they are weak easterlies and strong westerlies, as produced by EI Nino, then clouds will have their tops cut off, buy if there is still air between two wind belts and a stronger easterly flow, as found in La Nina, hurricanes form more readily. This is one reason why the 1999 hurricane season has been so active. The presence of La Nina increases the chance by 75% of the United States being hit, as compared to the 25% chance with EI Nino.
When water evaporates, the moist vapor rises, then expands, then cools. It condenses into cloud droplets and then forms rain. Heat that is locked within the vapor is released, and this lowers air pressure, causing more rain and thunderstorms. The winds in these accumulating thunderstorms begin to move in the direction of the earth’s rotation and circulate in a counterclockwise motion. If this takes place in the Southern Hemisphere, it is clockwise direction. This mass of whirling storms is called a tropical cyclone. As the winds accelerate in this spiral, the storm is designated as a hurricane when they reach speed of 74m.p.h. there is a column at the center of these multiple thunderstorms. It consists of calm air and is called the “eye” of the hurricane. It is surrounded by the fiercest storms of the system.
There are other factors that affect the formation of hurricanes. In addition to the presence of EI Nina conditions in the equatorial Pacific, rainfall amounts in West Africa, the intensity of stratospheric winds, and significant changes in ocean circulation also affect how storms develop and to what degree. Therefore, predicting where hurricanes will appear is difficult. Other factors that may be a bit more esoteric are the overall effects of a natural shift in climate and whether global warming, induced by the pollutants of technology, transportation, and industrialization, will also contribute significantly. For example, global warming may make storms more severe by loading them with more rain. This would cause even more extensive flooding. If global sea levels rise, the surge effect of waves would increase, thereby causing more damage and destruction.
Even though the number of typhoons in the Pacific and hurricanes in the Atlantic may very in proportion to one another, there will be about 80 such events in any one year.
Hurricanes are a means to transfer heat from the equator to the poles. After waters off the coast of Africa are warmed to more than 81 degrees Fahrenheit, with the right combination of winds and accumulated thunderstorms, a hurricane is born. The water temperature is essential, but is the winds that play the significant role. If they are weak easterlies and strong westerlies, as produced by EI Nino, then clouds will have their tops cut off, buy if there is still air between two wind belts and a stronger easterly flow, as found in La Nina, hurricanes form more readily. This is one reason why the 1999 hurricane season has been so active. The presence of La Nina increases the chance by 75% of the United States being hit, as compared to the 25% chance with EI Nino.
When water evaporates, the moist vapor rises, then expands, then cools. It condenses into cloud droplets and then forms rain. Heat that is locked within the vapor is released, and this lowers air pressure, causing more rain and thunderstorms. The winds in these accumulating thunderstorms begin to move in the direction of the earth’s rotation and circulate in a counterclockwise motion. If this takes place in the Southern Hemisphere, it is clockwise direction. This mass of whirling storms is called a tropical cyclone. As the winds accelerate in this spiral, the storm is designated as a hurricane when they reach speed of 74m.p.h. there is a column at the center of these multiple thunderstorms. It consists of calm air and is called the “eye” of the hurricane. It is surrounded by the fiercest storms of the system.
There are other factors that affect the formation of hurricanes. In addition to the presence of EI Nina conditions in the equatorial Pacific, rainfall amounts in West Africa, the intensity of stratospheric winds, and significant changes in ocean circulation also affect how storms develop and to what degree. Therefore, predicting where hurricanes will appear is difficult. Other factors that may be a bit more esoteric are the overall effects of a natural shift in climate and whether global warming, induced by the pollutants of technology, transportation, and industrialization, will also contribute significantly. For example, global warming may make storms more severe by loading them with more rain. This would cause even more extensive flooding. If global sea levels rise, the surge effect of waves would increase, thereby causing more damage and destruction.
Even though the number of typhoons in the Pacific and hurricanes in the Atlantic may very in proportion to one another, there will be about 80 such events in any one year.