By Ben Udstuen
Global warming has become a much more pressing issue over time. It is responsible for the planet’s climate changing and changing weather patterns. The most impactful of these weather changes is an increase in the intensity and frequency of hurricanes. Hurricanes are becoming more alarming because of global warming due to the rising of ocean temperatures, increase in humidity throughout the atmosphere, change in wind patterns, and the rising of sea level.
The greatest factor leading to hurricanes increasing intensity is the rise in ocean temperatures. Hurricanes draw their energy from warm water, most of the time around 79°F (26°C). Human activities are the driving influence for these changes, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. With the warmer waters, there is more energy for the storms to derive power from, leading to faster development and intensity before it reaches land.
Another important factor is the increase in atmospheric humidity, closely related to the rising temperatures. The warmer the air is, the more moisture it can hold. For every 1°C of increase in temperature, the atmosphere is able to hold roughly 7% more water vapor. This will contribute to not only heavier rainfuall during storms, but also increasing intensity of storms. When a hurricane enters air that is dense with moisture, it strengthens much quicker, leading to more rainfall and increased flooding.
Wind patterns are also affected by global warming. Wind patterns are significant to hurricane formation because lower wind shear causes storms to grow stronger, while higher wind shears break up their formation. The warming of the atmosphere alters atmospheric circulation patterns and jet streams, which influence the paths that hurricanes take. Global warming can influence the wind shear that a region can experience, creating conditions that are perfect for the development of an intense hurricane.
The last impactful factor is the rising sea levels. With polar ice melting and ocean waters expanding due to increasing heat, regions along the coast are becoming much more vulnerable to flooding. Higher sea levels can influence the impact that a storm surge can have on an area. Even if the wind speeds are lower, a high sea level will cause the surge to reach much higher than it ever has before. Surges pose a dire threat to coastal communities with the fear of their ecosystem falling apart.
The evidence that global warming is directly related to the intensification of hurricanes is all there. Rising ocean temperatures, increased atmospheric humidity, changes in wind patterns, and rising sea levels all contribute to the pressing matter that the world faces. Moving forward, people need to know how and why these problems are starting to occur more frequently, and impacting the ecosystems that we live in.
There isn’t any one way that the planet can reverse global warming, as it is a necessary collective effort through multiple actions. To reduce the emissions, people can try to transition into forms of renewable energy like solar, wind, and hydroelectric forms of power. Even the electrification of transportation would make a huge difference, and kill two birds with one stone. The increase in public transportation would break away from the reliance on gasoline and diesel, along with making transportation more accessible to the nation. While completely eliminating deforestation is impossible due to the lifestyles so many build around it, we can try to reforest areas, leading to more absorption of CO2 from the atmosphere. No one is required to make a change, which could be the problem, so if policy made it mandatory to follow regulations, a greater impact would be made. Implementing carbon taxes could incentivise necessary reductions on emmissions. On a larger scale, the Paris agreement has gained the collective effort of 195 countries, doing their part to limit global warming as much as they can. In the long run, global warming is a problem that needs to be fixed not only for our livelihoods, but also for all future generations to come.
Ben Udstuen is a student at Spring Grove High School, and one of 15 area students participating in the Journal Writing Project, now in its 26th year.
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