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Hurricanes linked to global warming

Are humans responsible for the formation of powerful hurricanes in the ocean systems? The scientific observations of a group of scientists precisely points toward this direction.

The rising temperatures aided and abetted by the indiscriminate release of pollutants into the atmosphere by the developed countries are resulting in prevalence of warmer conditions on ocean surface. The warmer climate is acting as a perfect breeding ground for formation of high velocity hurricane systems over a period of time.

This disturbing fact has come out of a study conducted by a group of scientists, the report of which is expected to be released shortly, and justifying suspicions largely echoed by many in the United States. This could be one of the reasons behind the formation of intense storms like Hurricane Katrina that led to severe destruction on landfall.

The recent study over the formation of severe to mild hurricanes in Atlantic and Pacific oceans has some what established the missing link on the warmer sea surface and the power of hurricanes. This warmer climate is invariably due to industrial action and resultant pollution.

Another factor that came out of the study pointed to the warmer climatic conditions in the hurricane breeding grounds, which were not backed by natural processes alone. The study by Benjamin Santer of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, along with their team members closely studied the linkage between climate and hurricanes with the help of 22 climate models at 15 institutions around the world to bring out the findings.

It is significant that the warmer climate on ocean surfaces is increasing due to the global warming over a period of time. However, efforts so far made to get a closer link between these two patterns remained elusive in the face of conclusive evidence. The latest study, with a focus on smaller areas of Atlantic and Pacific where hurricanes form, bridges the close loop between the two and conclusive proves that the pattern is induced by the warmer climate in oceans alone and not other natural processes.

Does this mean that the rise in temperature is alone behind the formation of powerful hurricanes and other destructive waves in ocean? The answer to this vital query is far from complete because the study brought out a closer connection between the most likely factors with a certain degree of evidence.

However, to dismiss the conclusion as “another theory” will seriously undermine the impact of global warming on the climate. Several countries are reeling under hitherto unknown climatic conditions ranging from El Nino impact to severe droughts to flash floods, thereby impacting the livelihood and living condition of people.

The global warming is said to be releasing the methane trapped in Siberian permafrost at a much faster rate than previously thought out to be. In fact, methane is 23 times as effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. The impact of global warming is going to be witnessed in this century with rise in sea levels that will make beachfronts vanish into the tides and seafront houses being swept away.

To reduce the impact of global warming, the developed countries along with the United States need to do a lot to reverse the trend. Be it the Kyoto Protocol or other international measures should be initiated for a coordinated action to reduce the global warming by cutting down the pollution levels. The use of bio fuels for reducing the vehicular pollution as a means of controlling pollution levels and other green laws are a pointer in this direction.

On the other, some other researchers, who are closely studying the hurricane patterns, are not serious about the findings. Rather they point to the historical data, including the last 20 years, to suggest the contrary. Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane researcher at Colorado State University, is very clear about his observation and makes it a point that the hurricane activity has declined in the last two decades. More importantly, he observes, the new techniques to gauge the rise in temperature levels is a point in “increasing activity” on reports of hurricane activity.

Be it the new techniques or actual rise in temperature, the coastal areas around the world are experiencing soil erosion with beaches going down in sea water and leaving behind huge economic losses. If the global warming increases as a result of pollution, then more places around the world will witness damage to life and property in the coming years than ever before.

Chandra Sekhar

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