Cyclones Getting Stronger With Time

Recent studies have pointed to an increase in intensity of cyclones as well as the change of directions amidst global warming and other ecological changes.

Crux of the Matter

Recent Research Recent research on cyclones has pointed to the increasing strength of “the maximum sustained winds”, indicating that cyclones on average are getting stronger with time. The cyclones are also reported to shift their location towards the earth’s poles while shifting across the lands. This change has been brought on, including several causes, by global warming where the earth is witnessing an increase in average temperature due to rapid industrialization, etc.

1. 
   

Formation of Cyclones

1. Cyclones are intensive circular storms generated over warm oceans

2. Forms when warm air near oceans ascends, creating low-pressure region

3. Surrounding air of high pressure comes to take place in the vacated low-pressure region

4. The warm air on the top condenses into clouds, creating a combination of clouds and storms

5. The storm on reaching lands loses its source power of warm ocean air but continues to propel forward till exhausted

6. 
   

Curiopedia

1. Tropical Cyclone Kesiny was the first recorded tropical cyclone – the equivalent of a minimal hurricane – to make landfall in the month of May in the south-west Indian Ocean. Its formation was the result of an increase in the Madden–Julian oscillation, which also contributed to a twin storm in the north Indian Ocean.

2. The topic of “Tropical cyclones and climate change” receives considerable attention from climate scientists who study the connections between storms and climate, and notably since 2005 makes news during active storm seasons. The 2018 U.S. National Climate Change Assessment reported that “increases in greenhouse gases and decreases in air pollution have contributed to increases in Atlantic hurricane activity since 1970.”

3. Henry Piddington was an English merchant captain who sailed in East India and China. He is particularly well known for his pioneering studies in the meteorology of tropical storms and hurricanes. He noted the circular winds recorded by ships caught in storms and coined the name cyclone in 1848 based on his studies of tropical storms and the observation of circular winds around a calm center.

Curated Coverage

1. W News – Long-term data show hurricanes are getting stronger

2. NASA Science Space Place – How Do Hurricanes Form?

3. BBC – Amphan: Cyclone wreaks deadly havoc in India and Bangladesh

4. The Hindu – How lessons learnt from 1999 supercyclone is helping Odisha even today

#Cyclone