why do hurricanes happen?
Hurricanes are very powerful, have you ever wondered how they form, why they form, and where they form? keep reading to find out more.
Hurricanes are natural disasters that form in warm ocean water. Different conditions that occur due to temperature changes in the world cause El Nino and La Nina to occur contributing to the movement of warm and cold water to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Depending on which event is occurring, El Nino or La Nina, the Atlantic will have a hurricane. Hurricanes are influenced by atmospheric disturbances, such as storms, with the right amount of water evaporation, wind, and surface temperature of water tropical storms can form, and from if surface temperature of the ocean water increase even more tropical depressions can form. As temperatures increase so does the stage of a storm, storms can rapidly increase in speed in just a few hours. However if wind shears, land masses, or cold water are present, they can often dissipate the storm. The destruction that many times accompanies hurricanes is terrible, homes are often destroyed, people die, plants are ripped from the ground, and so much more.
Atlantic Ocean Hurricanes affect Earths four spheres in multiple ways; it initially begins with the hydrosphere. The Hydrosphere is where hurricanes form; water movement and conditions such as El Nino and La Nina are large contributors to hurricane formation in different regions of the world. For example La Nina and its movement of cold water causes shifts in vertical wind shears which causes more hurricanes to form in the Atlantic oceans since there is less atmospheric stability and weaker trade winds and vertical wind shear. El Nino and its movement of warm water on the other hand favor’s the formation of hurricanes in the Pacific since there is less vertical wind shear on the west coast.
Overall El Nino and La Nina are opposites of one another and influence and effect opposite coasts in the formation of hurricanes. The drastic temperature variations in El Nino and La Nina not only change where hurricanes or storms form but they also influence sea life, when the water is cooler sea life that is usually deeper in cooler regions of the water move up and are frequently found closer to the surface. Another major influencer in hurricane formation is oceanic currents; these currents contribute to El Nino and La Nina and the movement of warm or cold water into regions where other factors can initiate the formation of a hurricane. Oceanic currents also influence what type of debris, pollutants, and other materials are found in different regions of the world.
The atmosphere is a huge contributor to the formation of hurricanes; thunderstorms are contributors to the initial formation of a hurricane since it pulls in warm air that is needed to start the formation of a hurricane. The evaporation that occurs from warm sea water causes clouds to form and rain to fall, which bring about tropical disturbances which are the start of hurricane formation. Wind shears within the atmosphere are another contributor since their high velocity and turning force can create the perfect environment for a hurricane to form in different regions.
All of the contributing factors to the formation of a hurricane affect the lithosphere. The hurricane it self-depending on its intensity many times is affected by the water that is brought with the hurricane and the strong wind because it moves around set materials. The temperature shift that also comes with hurricanes also can affect the lithosphere.
The biosphere is largely affected by hurricanes since they are many times destructive and deadly. When hurricanes hit a land mass they rip apart animal habitats, destroy buildings, and kill people and animals. The loss of life is many times because of strong wind, drowning, debris within the storm or because of the loss of basic survival necessities. Hurricanes have so much destructive power, when they hit a place that is heavily populated with life many times lives are lost, animals are injured, plant life is destroyed, top soil is removed making it very hard for plant life to be reestablished, and recovery takes a very long time.
Hurricanes need two things in order to form, warm ocean water and somewhat constant wind speed and direction. The other contributors to the formation of a hurricane include low pressur , and tropical wind patterns. Hurricanes are initially formed when the upper atmosphere, in the eye of the storm, temperature increases due to condensation of water vapor in the clouds, forming droplets and rain clouds, creating a tropical disturbance. If this tropical disturbance becomes more intense it can become a tropical depression where thunderstorms begin to rotate with high speed winds up to 62 kilometers an hour. If winds within the tropical depression exceed 62 km/hr the depression is then classified as a tropical storm, and if the speed passes the 119 km/hr mark the storm is then considered to be a hurricane. A hurricanes life cycle, can last from a day to a month depending on outside factors such as wind shears. Wind shears largely affect hurricane activity in the Atlantic Ocean, conditions such as La Nina change vertical wind shears which many times influences the formation of hurricanes on the east coast since the wind shears are weaker.
Hurricanes over the Atlantic ocean many times originate near Africa and move west with trade winds, they then shift to the north, and as they come across wind from the north and gradually approach North America arriving in the Atlantic. Hurricanes can also originate in the Gulf of Mexico due to its warm water as well as in the Caribbean Sea since it is also very warm. The Atlantic basin near the south eastern part of North America is very warm making it a prime place for hurricane formation. The warm water allows evaporation to occur which provokes hurricane formation if the conditions are right.
The eye of a hurricane is the “hole at the center of the storm” this region of the storm, in the sky, tends to be partly cloudy to clear, most of the time (Dunbar, 2015). The eye wall “is a ring of thunderstorms swirling around the eye. The wall is where winds are strongest and rain is heaviest” (Dunbar, 2015) the Rain bands are “Spiral bands of clouds, rain and thunderstorms extend[ed] out from a hurricanes eye wall” these bands can go for hundreds of miles and many times have tornadoes within them (Dunbar, 2015). Outflow is the air that flows outward from the hurricanes system; this is a major influencer in the strength of the hurricane.
The atmosphere and the oceans both interact and cause climate patterns to change in events such as El Nino and La Nina. El Nino warms of the surface of the water in the central and Eastern tropical pacific oceans, this suppresses hurricane formation in the Atlantic. La Nina is the opposite of El Nino; it cools the surface of the water in the central and eastern tropical pacific oceans and suppresses hurricane formation in the Pacific. The atmospheres pressure changes due to temperature variations. The atmosphere also has waves that travel with the temperature movement in El Nino and La Nina, which contributes to the formation of rain clouds and stormy weather. Ocean temperature shifts cause sea life to act abnormally, when the water is warmer than usual many sea creatures that are accustomed to cooler temperatures move deeper into the water, and vice versa. The oceans water temperature moves with currents to different locations in the Atlantic and Pacific and many times causes changes in wind shears and the formation of tropical storms which can progress into hurricanes. Wind shears are correlated with El Nino and La Nina in that they largely occur on the opposing coast where El Nino or La Nina is occurring, wind shears help suppress hurricane activity, they are often present where there is greater atmospheric stability, where water temperatures are cooler. Where warm ocean current approach land masses hurricanes are usually forming along with them; warm water fuels hurricane formations, this makes for disastrous events to occur like hurricane Katrina or Sandy.
What types of things do hurricanes cause??
Hurricanes are disastrous natural events; once they hit land they often bring a storm surge due to the force of the wind, bringing large amounts of water flooding coastal regions. The high winds that come with the swirling storm of sea water, tear plant life from the ground, rip apart buildings, destroy bridges, and kill hundreds of people. Since hurricanes are based with water and are a storm, the atmospheric changes that come with the hurricane often bring heavy rain, adding to the storm surge bringing even more flooding to the region it is affecting. Tornados also are detrimental to land masses; they often come with similar effects. Tornados also destroy buildings, rip plant life out of the ground, injure and kill hundreds of people, and bring thunder and rain with them. Earths systems interactions are part of everyday life, but when temperatures drastically change in the water or in the atmosphere natural disasters is many times the result.
So overall what do they do and how does it happen?
Earths spheres all interact in hundreds of ways on a daily basis, but in the case of hurricanes the atmosphere and the hydrosphere interact in such a way that the biosphere and lithosphere suffer. The hydrosphere is where hurricanes form; water movement and conditions such as El Nino and La Nina are large contributors to hurricane formation in different regions of the world. The atmosphere works with the hydrosphere and creates a cycle that creates a hurricane. Hurricane development can last for days and it can increase in speed and category depending on wind, pressure and temperature. Water is such a powerful element of nature, and with the power of the atmosphere being added to this already powerful element a deadly force many times results. The Atlantic Ocean is very warm for most of the year allowing the formation of tropical storms and the progression of hurricanes.
here are some links to different journals and websites i used to create this blog post!
A deadly cycle. Retrieved February 22, 2017, from http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/HurricaneHeart/heart_2.php
Dunbar, B. (2015, June 09). What Are Hurricanes? Retrieved February 22, 2017, from https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-are-hurricanes 58.html
Hurricanes. (VESSS). Retrieved February 25, 2017, from https://vsgc.spacegrant.org/course/mod/book/view.php?id=4601
Impacts of El Niño and La Niña on the hurricane season | NOAA Climate.gov. (2014, May 30). Retrieved February 25, 2017, from https://www.climate.gov/news features/blogs/enso/impacts-el-ni%C3%B1o-and-la-ni%C3%B1a-hurricane-season
What is the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in a nutshell? | NOAA Climate.gov.
Retrieved February 25, 2017, from https://www.climate.gov/news features/blogs/enso/what-el-ni%C3%B1o%E2%80%93southern-oscillation-enso-nutshell
