With the recent storm that rolled through over the weekend, a lot of people are naturally upset with all of the damage caused by the storm’s high winds and rain. The annual hurricane season officially begins June 1 and ends Nov. 30. The peak of the season is now through October, so that means we can still see a few more big storms like Irene.
Simply put, hurricanes are caused by low-pressure areas that form over warm temperatures in the ocean. With the hurricane seasons getting increasingly busier each year, one can only assume global warming is a possible contributing factor to these natural disasters. You can’t say that any single weather event is a direct effect of climate change, however, you can say that climate change does play a role in extreme-weather trends.
Global warming, one of the most complex issues facing the world, is a continuing rise of average temperatures in the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans. It is caused by increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which is a result of human activity. Activities like deforestation and burning fossil fuels play a big role in the rise of greenhouse gases.
Weather and nature are always random, so we cannot blame global warming completely. Hurricanes are a complex force of nature. The key connection between global warming and hurricanes is the sea surface temperature and the power of the hurricane itself. With ocean temperatures increasing, that means more hurricanes. So the question is: Why has the temperature increased so much?
Scientists argue that the high hurricane activity is due to a natural cycle, others claim that it’s a direct effect of global warming. When we look back at Hurricane Katrina, it was only a category 1 when crossing Florida, but once Katrina crossed the Gulf of Mexico, she gained force due to the warm waters in the Gulf. Hurricanes are much more destructive as ocean temperatures rise, and the rise in greenhouse gases increases ocean temperatures tremendously.
Katrina and Irene are in the past now, so there is no point in arguing what caused it; the point is that we should look at global warming as it will only make hurricanes much more destructive in the future. If we only contribute to the problem and avoid solving it, our future on this planet may be rather bleak.
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