Several recent hurricanes have particularly hit Asian countries, and new research confirms that these are also linked to climate change. Should there be additional levels on the whirlwind scale?
Super typhoon “Fung-Wong” caused severe damage and at least 18 deaths in the Philippines a few days ago. A super typhoon is a very strong storm. The exact extent of the disaster is still unclear.
Elsewhere in the world, in Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti, Hurricane Melissa raged in late October, killing at least 59 people. It is the strongest hurricane ever to hit Jamaica, according to climate scientist Jayaka Campbell of the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. “Hurricane Melissa has destroyed infrastructure and housing, displaced thousands of people, caused widespread damage to crops and severely impacted livelihoods, particularly in agriculture, fishing and tourism,” said Jayaka Campbell.
Driven by high temperatures
Typhoons, cyclones and typhoons are basically one and the same thing, namely tropical cyclones. They are just called differently in different parts of the world. These storms are called typhoons off the Pacific coast in East and Southeast Asia, cyclones in the Indian Ocean, and typhoons off the coast of America originating from the North Atlantic or northeastern Pacific.
Such cyclones occur when the temperature in the upper 50 meters of the sea is at least 26.5 degrees Celsius. Then the water evaporates and rises – negative pressure is created above the sea. This causes air to flow in from the sides. At the same time, water condenses at high altitudes to form clouds. This creates heat and provides energy for storms, which are driven by the Earth’s rotation. These storms may be strong, but they move relatively slowly so they can cause a lot of damage in one place.
Stronger because of climate change
Current research assumes that tropical cyclones are becoming significantly stronger due to climate change and higher ocean temperatures. Hurricane Melissa also became more intense due to climate change, a recent study found. Ben Clarke, from Imperial College London, is one of the authors and said: “This study finds that all aspects of this event are being made worse by climate change and we will see more such events if we continue to use fossil fuels.”
According to research, climate change is causing more rainfall and stronger winds during storms. This also increases the risk of such a strong storm forming by five times. Additionally, as climate change increases, stronger storms are expected, according to the study.
The debate about more categories
An article in the specialist journal PNAS last year stated that the scale of tropical cyclones needed to be expanded. So far there are five categories – the five categories of storms that have the strongest wind speeds. The authors now propose a sixth category for hurricanes with wind speeds above 309 kilometers per hour.
The researchers assumed that the intensity of the storms would be higher, but that the storms would not necessarily occur more frequently. The fact that a hurricane forms depends on many factors.
Wind speed itself is only a small indicator of how severe the damage is. For example, storm surges can have different strengths at the same wind speed. In conjunction with damage estimates, it’s also important to know how well a region adapts to a hurricane, says Jayaka Campbell: “A lot of what we experience during a hurricane depends on the country we’re in, local conditions, and what vulnerabilities exist.”
The latest scientific findings should also be presented to decision makers at the World Climate Conference, says Ben Clarke.
