Madison Durham

English Major/ Spanish Minor

College of Arts and Sciences

Connecting Hurricanes and Global Warming

A Brief Review of Hurricanes

Factors that Affect Hurricanes

Sea surface temperature The Atlantic

Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO)

Instability in the atmosphere

Vertical windshear

Tropical waves and other disturbances

Climate Change

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF9LNuH3IpU

Hank Green, who made this video, is a YouTube personality along with his brother John Green. Hank has degrees in Biochemistry and Environmental Studies and speaks frequently regarding various scientific and social issues.

Effects of Global Warming

• Increased sea levels due to melting polar ice• Higher sea surface temperatures• Increased overall global temperatures• Risks of extreme weather systems based on

atmospheric instabilities

Global Warming and Extreme Weather

Impact: Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy

Hurricanes and Global Warming

While it is considered by many to be too early to make conclusions about a visible human effect on hurricane strength due to climate change, there are projected increases in hurricane strength and damage rates if the current global temperature increase continues

Comparing Averages

If Patterns Continue…

Even If We Don’t Seem Worried… We’re Worried

Popular culture and media today reflect a great deal of society’s anxiety about climate change.

English Major Tie-In

Many books written within the last ten years reflect our emerging fears about the repercussions of climate change—there is even an unofficial new genre name for them: climate

fiction.

In Conclusion

Hurricanes are tropical cyclones characterized by high wind speeds (>74 mph) and devastating sociological effects.

Global climate change has the potential and has, in the past, demonstrated symptoms that factor into the generation of stronger hurricane cells. The rising sea levels and increased SST generated by a

warming planet create conditions for more deadly hurricanes. If the trend continues we will begin to see a pattern of Category

4 and 5 storms, as well as an increase in damages incurred worldwide.

Global climate change is closely linked with extreme weather systems, and if something does not change then the amount of tropical cyclones etc we will see can only increase.

QUESTIONS?

Sources http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/amp-66-4-265.pdf

http://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/global-warming-and-hurricanes

http://www.c2es.org/science-impacts/extreme-weather/hurricanes

http://ww.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts/impacts/hurricanes-and-climate-change.html#.VGkWrFfF9wZ

http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts

http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/fcons/fcons1.asp

http://www.livescience.com/642-warmer-seas-creating-stronger-hurricanes-study-confirms.html

http://climate.nasa.gov/effects/