Environmental Report: Hurricanes and their Tendencies
Environmental Report: Hurricanes and their Tendencies
According to the National Hurricane Center, a hurricane releases heat energy at a rate of 50 trillion to 200 trillion watts, which is equivalent to the energy from exploding 10 megaton bombs every 20 minutes. With such strength, it is no wonder why these natural disasters have such large destructive impacts on the environment. Furthermore, hurricanes are of extreme importance to Florida, since they have historically overwhelmed the state, especially in 1992 with Hurricane Andrew. Since it is certain that hurricanes will hit Florida and equally certain that biological populations (including people) will exist in Florida, there is a need for researching methods to coexist with these monstrous storms.
First, to be able to create solutions to hurricane damage, experts must understand the physical manner in which hurricanes actually cause damage. Roger Pielke, in his hurricane book, The Hurricane, identifies four impacts of a hurricane: storm surge, extreme winds, tornadoes, and rainfall. These impacts are not completely separate from each other; they interact, but are different in scope. Storm surge refers to the rapid rise of sea level as a storm approaches a coastline. This is the biggest impact of a hurricane and accounts for 90% of hurricane deaths (Pielke 1990). Storm surges are caused by three factors. First, the overlying atmosphere pressure drops. Second, strong onshore winds cause a piling up of water at the coast. Third, the decreasing sea depth as the ocean approaches the coast causes the surge to get steeper. A storm surge of 15 feet corresponds to a level 5 hurricane, and a surge greater than 5 feet can cause major damage and loss of life. Since surges reduce as they move inland, surges are mostly destructive to beaches. Extreme winds, which carry a lot of kinetic energy, can cause significant structural damage and even endanger life with dangerous wreckage. The damage of winds is relative to the kinetic flow, which is exponential. For example, a wind of 50 ms-1 is four times greater than winds of 25 ms-1. In addition, winds are not restricted to the coasts; extreme winds appear and are destructive far inland. Tornadoes are connected with extreme winds. Although hurricane induced tornadoes are not as strong as the “normal” ones that appear in the Midwest, they still cause a lot of damage and are dangerous to life. Tornadoes are mysterious, but there are theories on their...