Meteorology And Climatology Module – Lab, Question, And Photos

Modeling Convective Flow in the Atmosphere

Part A: Modeling Convective Flow in the Atmosphere

1. Yes, after a short period, the hot red water starts moving away from point C. It is important to note that fluids (including air) moves from a region of high pressure to a region of low pressure.
2. After sometime, the hot red water moves from point C towards point A.
3. The movement of the hot red water from point C to point B can be described as staying on the top. It is important to note that hot or warm water is less dense than cold water. As a result of this, the hot red water will tend to move while remaining on top since the lower part of the tank will be occupied by cold water. The hot red water moves from point C to point A so as to occupy the space left by the cold blue water at point A after moving to point B (the bottom of the tank due to its higher density).
4. After the fluids had settled down, the cold blue water started moving away from A.
5. The cold blue water moves from point A towards point B. After a few minutes, the ice cubes absorbed some heat from the surrounding hot water at point C. This heat caused the ice cubes to melt thus cooling the air around it. Since the cold water is more dense than the hot water, the cold water at point A started moving towards the bottom of the tank.
6. The movement of the cold blue water from point A to point B can be described as sinking.
7. After moving from point A to point B, the cold blue water moved along the bottom of the tank. It is important to note that the cold blue water is still more dense than the hot water at the top of the tank. Therefore the principle of more dense particles sinks while less dense particles float made the cold blue water to move along the bottom of the tank.
8. The cold blue water moved along the bottom of the tank from point B towards point D. It must be noted that as the water in the tank continues to circulate, the hot water at point C started moving towards point A so as to occupy the space that had been left by the cold water, which moved from point A to point B. The hot water at point D then moved upwards so as to occupy the space left by the water that moved from point C to point A. Thus the cold blue water at point B moved to point D so as to occupy the space left at point D after the hot water moved upwards to point C.
9. The hot red water moved along the top of the tank simply because it was less dense than the cold water that had moved to the bottom of the tank.
10. The hot red water at point C moved from point C towards point A so as to occupy the space left by the cold blue water that had moved from point A to point B.
11. Considering that the fluid model developed in this experiment represents a fluid flow model, the letters that represent cold polar regions are A and B. These are the points or regions that contain colder fluids (water and air). This cold air creates a high pressure point hence air will tend to move from this point to other points containing warmer air (which create less air pressure).  
12. From the model created in this experiment, the letters that represent hot equatorial regions are C and D. These points or regions contain warmer fluids (water and air). The warmer air creates a low pressure point hence air will tend to rise leaving space for colder air from cold regions to occupy.
13. This experiment has demonstrated that air moves from colder regions to warmer regions. The colder regions create high pressure while the warmer regions creates low pressure, meaning that air moves from high pressure regions to low pressure regions. This explains why air currents tend to move from the cold polar regions to the hot equatorial regions. With time, this circulation of air from colder regions to warmer regions become vicious.

Part B: Ocean Circulation

1. Ocean thermocline is a gradient line showing temperature profile of the ocean. The ocean thermocline basically shows that water temperature decreases rapidly with the increase in depth of the ocean water. In other words, ocean thermocline is a transition layer between the warmer water found at the surface of the ocean and the cooler water deep in the ocean.  
2. Upwelling is a process where deep, cold and nutrient-rich water from below the ocean rises towards the ocean surface to replace the warmer and nutrient-depleted water at the surface. This phenomenon takes place during late spring and summer as the wind drives nutrient-rich, dense and cooler water towards the surface of the ocean to replace the warmer surface water.
3. Salinity is the measure of the quantity of salt (sodium chloride) that is dissolved in water.
4. The average salinity of seawater is35‰ (35 parts per thousand or 35g of dissolved sodium chloride in 1kg of seawater) (Science Learning Hub, 2010).  
5. Colder water is more dense than warmer water. When water is cooled, the movement of its molecules slow down and they get closer to each other making them to occupy a smaller volume, which results to an increase in density.
6. Saltier water is more dense than fresher water.

The photos of the lab are as shown in photo 1, photo 2 and photo 3 below

When the cardboard was carefully pulled out of the container, it was observed the red/hot water moved quickly to the top of the container whereas the blue/cold water settled to the bottom of the container. After a short while, there was a distinct layer separating the red/hot water and the blue/cold water. But when the two liquids were left in the container for some time, they started mixing and the color of the water changed to purple.

1. The main reason why the red/hot water moved to the top of the container while the blue/cold water settled to the bottom of the container is differences in their temperature. The temperature difference causes the density difference between the red/hot water and the blue/cold water. Hot water is less dense than cold water hence the former had to rise up and float (remain on top). On the other hand, cold water is more dense than warm water hence the former had to move downward and sink (settle at the bottom of the container). But after some time, the cold water started absorbing some heat from the warm water. If the red/hot water and the blue/cold water was left for several minutes, the heat from the hot water would become evenly distributed throughout the container. Even distribution of heat means that the temperature difference or gradient between the two liquids no longer exists. This would cause the two liquids to mix forming one color – purple (red + blue = purple).
2. In the model created in this experiment, thermocline was located at the boundary between the red/hot water and the blue/cold water. This was the boundary separating the two liquids, which had different temperature and density. In other words, the thermocline in the container was the transition layer between the warmer (red) water at the top of the container and the cooler (blue) water at the bottom of the container.
3. On earth, the blue/cold water is most likely to be found in polar regions, which are regions around the North and South Poles. These regions are mainly characterized by cold climate. Examples of these regions include: Antarctica, Circumpolar Arctic region and Southern sea.
4. On earth, the red/hot water is most likely to be found in equatorial regions, which are regions bound around the equator). These regions are characterized by hot and went climate all year round. Examples of these regions include: South East Asia, Congo basin, Amazon basin and Niger basin.

Part C: Waves Caused By Wind

1. When air was blown across the top of the water in the tank, the water at the top got pushed away. The movement of water was perpendicular to the direction in which the air was blown. Something similar to a trough was then formed at the top of the water.
2. Yes, upwelling was observed when the top of the water in the tank was blown gently for a few seconds.
3. Blowing the surface of the water in the tank created upwelling from the bottom of the tank because the blown air pushed away the water at the top of the tank. Water from the bottom of the tank then had to rise so as to replace or occupy the space that was left by the water that had been pushed away.
4. Walker cell (also referred to as a la Nada or Walker circulation) is an airflow conceptual model that occurs in the lower atmosphere in the tropics. This phenomenon occurs where air pressure is higher over the eastern Pacific along the South American coast. When air pressure over the Eastern Pacific is higher, water gets pushed to the west resulting to formation of strong trade winds and a strong equatorial current. These creates warmer water, wetter conditions and lower air pressure over the Western Pacific. Along the South American coast, the water that was pushed to the west gets replaced by cool, upwelling water. This replacement is enabled by a strong Peruvian current. Generally, Walker cell occurs when the sun heats water in the Pacific Ocean. Some of the water evaporates to the atmosphere while some warm air currents flows to the west of the Pacific Ocean coastline that is characterized by warm, wet, low pressure conditions. On the other hand, cool air currents flow to the east of the Pacific Ocean coastline that is characterized by cool, dry, high pressure conditions. In simple words, Walker cell is the longitudinal circulation of air across the Pacific Ocean(James, 2016). This phenomenon happens when high pressure areas form above Pacific Ocean water’s eastern side while low pressure areas form above Pacific Ocean water’s western side. Since winds tend to flow from high pressure areas to low pressure areas, the winds start flowing from east to west of the Pacific Ocean. This results to formation of trade winds, which pushes the cooler water from Pacific Ocean’s eastern side to the west across the equator. The air gets warmed as it moves along. When the warm air reaches the Pacific Ocean’s west side, it rises up losing its moisture in form of precipitation. The drier air starts flowing back to the Pacific coast’s eastern side, creating a loop. Other factors driving Walker cell are pressure and temperature gradients.
5. The conditions that change a Walker Cell and create an El Nino event include: cloud patterns and rainfall patterns.
6. If the location where the air was being blown from was the west coast of South America near Peru and the other side of the container was Australia, the structure that would be formed is El Nino. The west coast of South America near Peru is the world’s driest desert (Atacama Desert). Warm surface waters occasionally develops in the Pacific Ocean along South America’s equatorial coast. This creates high pressure above the Pacific and the winds start moving from east to west. Therefore El Nino would form in Peru due to this unusual weather pattern.   
7. Upwelling is important to the citizens of Peru, especially those who depend on commercial fishing for their livelihoods, because this phenomenon causes cold, deep ocean water to flow upwards. This water is loaded with nutrients and it is very rich in oxygen. Its high oxygen and nutrient contents promotes fish production. As a result of this, fish in the region grows faster and healthy due to plenty of food and oxygen. In general, upwelling promotes growth of plankton and seaweed, which are food for fish. This increases fish stocks.
8. The rainfall in coastal Peru would be more likely under El Nino conditions. This is because sea surface temperatures close to northern Australia becomes cooler than normal. This changes the focus of convection from Australia eastwards to the Pacific Ocean. As a result of this, heavy rainfall (El Nino) is created in Peru and Kiribati(Bureau of Meteorology, 2018).

Part D: Salinity

1. After removing the divider slowly, the red fresh water moved to the top of the container while the blue salty water settled at the bottom of the water. This is simply because salty water is more dense than fresh water hence when the two liquids are mixed, the salty water sinks while the fresh water floats on top.
2. In this experiment, the halocline formed at the boundary between the red fresh water and the blue salty water. This boundary layer indicated salinity difference between the two liquids. Since the blue water contained dissolved salt, its salinity was higher, which increased its density causing the blue salty water to sink and the red fresh water to float.   
3. In most oceans of the world, the surface waters are less salty than the waters below.
4. The first reason for this is because salty water is more dense than fresh water. Salinity is directly proportional to density meaning that when salinity increases, the density of water also increases and vice versa. Therefore the more dense (heavier) water sinks to the bottom of the ocean leaving fresh or less salty (less dense) water at the surface of the ocean.
5. The second reason is that a lot of freshwater from rivers or rain gets added to the surface of the ocean thus diluting the salty water near the surface of the ocean. The rainwater or water from rivers is usually fresh (less salty), which tends to float while the salty ocean water sinks to the bottom. This dilution reduces the salinity of water at the surface of the sea leaving the surface water less salty than the water deep into the ocean.
6. It is true that the saltiest water is generally at the surface in the tropics. However, there is a condition that must exist for this to happen. This condition is called evaporation. Tropics experience high rates of evaporation due to high temperatures. These temperatures cause freshwater to evaporate into the atmosphere leaving saltier water at the surface.    
7. Salinity is calculated using the equation below

Mass of salt = 350 grams

Mass of water = 10 liters = 10,000 milliliters = 10,000 grams (converting the volume of water into mass (grams)).

 = 33.8 parts per thousand.

1. Generally, the average salinity of ocean is5‰ (35 parts per thousand). This basically means every 1000 milliliters (1 liter) of ocean water contains 35g of dissolved salts (mostly sodium chloride)(University of Rhode Island, (n.d.)).

Part E: The Gulf of Mexico vs. the Poles

1. The salty water is more dense than the cold water? This is basically because when salt is added to the warm water, the total mass of the warm water increases resulting to an equivalent increase in its density. On the other hand, the mass of cold water remained unchanged hence its density remained less.      
2. After removing the divider slowly, it was observed that the two liquids formed two layers, one at the top and the other at the bottom. The fresh, cold, blue water moved to the top of the container while the salty, warm water settled to the bottom of the container. Therefore the fresh cold, blue water floated on top of the salty, warm, red water.
3. From the experiment model, it can be concluded that the saltier water is more dese than the colder water. The reason why saltier water is more dense than colder water is because dissolved salt added to the water increases the mass of water (without much increase in its volume) making it more dense than the fresh water. Since the amount of salt added to the water is small, the increase in volume of the salty water is insignificant. When mass increases with insignificant increase in volume, density increases substantially because density is calculated by dividing mass by volume ()  
4. The model run in this experiment proves that saltier waters are always more dense than cold waters in the real world.
5. Sometimes cold water might be more dense than salty water in the real world. However, this happens under certain conditions. One of these conditions is freezing. When ocean/sea water freezes, it forms ocean/sea ice. The ice is more dense than the salty water hence it sinks and settles beneath the salty water. freezing causes molecules of the cold water to come together thus reducing the volume of the water and increasing its density. Therefore when temperature decreases to a certain level, the cold ocean/sea water freezes and becomes more dense than salty water. This usually happens in Antarctic and Arctic oceans during winter.

Part F: Putting it all Together – The Thermocline Cycle

1. There is only place on earth where cold, salty, ocean water sinks to the floor of the ocean. This place is along the southeast coast of Greenland.
2. Downwelling happens along the southeast coast of Greenland because this is the place where multiple surface current converge(Bralower & Bice, 2011). At this place, surface water mainly from the Greenland Sea, the North Atlantic Ocean, Norwegian Sea and the North Sea meet. When these waters meet, the surface water of the sea then becomes more dense than the water below hence this surface water sinks. There are two main reasons why downwelling happens at this place. One of the reasons is that the surface water becomes colder. Since colder water is more dense than warm water, the former will automatically sink through downwelling. Another reason is because the surface water becomes saltier and denser. Therefore downwelling is caused by a change in the density of surface water. When the various surface currents meet off the southeast coast of Greenland, they either make the surface water more denser or saltier. The saltier or more dense water is heavier and therefore it sinks through a process called downwelling.  
3. Yes, latitude is the primary control of climate. The other climate controls that are responsible for London, England (51°N) being warmer than Boston, Massachusetts, USA (43°N) include: ocean currents (they can cause temperatures to increase or reduce depending on where they originate and the areas they pass before reaching the destination), elevation (climate is affected by distance from the equator. In polar regions, solar energy penetrates a thicker boundary of atmosphere and reaches the surface of the earth at lower angles than at the equator causing the climate at the poles to be cooler), closeness to water (areas close to the ocean or sea (coastal areas) are generally wetter and cooler than distant areas (inland areas), prevailing winds and air masses (winds blowing from the sea or ocean cause rain to form in the coastal areas and also causes inland areas to have dry weather), relief, topography (for example, mountainous areas prevents air movement and create more rain than dry areas), vegetation and human influence (humans also have a great impact on climate. Increased population has resulted to land encroachment, intensive industrial development, depletion of natural resources, etc., which affects climate). Most of these factors contribute to Gulf Stream, which increases London’s temperature.
4. The surface current that brings warm waters to England is called Gulf Stream. This is a strong current found in the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the most important and strongest ocean currently worldwide. It originates from the Gulf of Mexico then moves to the Atlantic at the top of Florida, increasing along the eastern coastlines of Newfoundland and the United States(Zimmerman, 2013). Gulf Stream is driven by wind patterns and water density. It moves warm water from the Atlantic Ocean to the British Isles and Europe (where England is located). This ocean current brings warmth to England and other parts of north-west Europe. This is the reason why England’s (and the UK in general) winters are relatively mild (Devlin, 2017).
5. England receives warm waters courtesy of two surface currents: the North Atlantic Current and the Gulf Stream. If thermohaline circulation were to slow or even come to a stop, England would not receive any warm breezes. This means that England and other parts of Europe would not have a warmer climate than they are expected. Thermohaline circulation is the reason why London, England is warmer than Boston despite London lying at a latitude of 51°N while Boston lies at a latitude of 43°N. Therefore if thermohaline circulation were to slow or even come to a stop, England’s climate would remain colder as it is anticipated considering its latitude and other factors affecting climate.

Part G: Hurricanes

The necessary ingredients for a hurricane to develop include:

1. Sea or ocean surface temperature (at least 82 °F) – formation of a hurricane requires a minimum temperature of about 80°F. Distribution of this temperature has to reach at least 50m deep into the ocean.
2. Wind shear or convergence (light rotating winds over the surface of the ocean) – wind shear refers to change in speed/direction of wind with height. The change must be sufficient to bear anticlockwise rotation of wind in the northern hemisphere.
3. Vertical motion (unstable atmosphere) – an unstable atmosphere refers to an atmosphere where warm air rises continuously until it reaches a value equal to that of the surrounding air. At this point, the atmosphere is said to have reached equilibrium, which is suitable for the formation of a hurricane.  
4. Relative humidity (RH) – by definition, RH refers to the quantity of moisture that is present in the atmosphere, in comparison with the amount of moisture that the atmosphere can hold. For a hurricane to form, the atmosphere must contain high values of relative humidity from the atmosphere’s lower to middle parts.  
5. Preexisting condition – formation of a hurricane can start as a simple thunderstorm. However, formation of a hurricane can be triggered when there is some kind of disturbance or f the thunderstorm is formed at a place adjacent to a lower pressure zone.
6. Coriolis force(Weather Forecast Solutions, 2017) – this is a very useful force that results from the earth’s rotation. The force causes air to flow to the right (anticlockwise) in the northern hemisphere and to the left (clockwise) in the southern hemisphere. This force also increases with increase in distance from the equator. Therefore a hurricane forms only when the Coriolis force is very strong, which happens at a distance of at least 300 miles from the equator.
7. There are no hurricanes shown as forming on or even close to the equator because at this point, the Coriolis force or effect is very weak (almost zero). This effect (which is caused by the earth’s spherical shape) is responsible for dictating low pressures to rotate in anticlockwise direction in the northern hemisphere and clockwise direction in the southern hemisphere thus pulling storms from the equator. This phenomenon makes it impossible for hurricanes to cross the equator hence they cannot form there.
8. The structure of a tropical cyclone basically comprises of three parts: rainbands, eye and eyewall (as shown in the figure below)(National Weather Center, 2018). The rainbands keep on rotating and facilitating the storm’s circulation. Air rotates towards the center of the tropical cyclone in an anticlockwise and clockwise direction in the northern and southern hemisphere respectively. At the center, the air sinks and forms a cloud-free eye. The eye is the tropical cyclone’s calmest part where the speed of wind does not exceed 74 mph. Formation of the eye is attributed to the combination of centrifugal force and conservation of angular momentum. The eyewall is part of the tropical cyclone where the strong wind gets very close. This part comprises of the strongest winds and a ring of tall thunderstorms producing very heavy rains. When the structure of the eyewall and the eye changes, wind speed is likely to change, which indicates the intensity of the storm. Rainbands are curved bands of thunderstorms and clouds that move away from the eyewall in a spiral pattern. The bands can produce heavy rains, strong winds and even tornadoes.

1. According to NOAA, a tropical cyclone is an organized, rapidly rotating system of thunderstorms and clouds originating from subtropical or tropical waters, and characterized by strong winds, low-pressure center, spiral thunderstorm arrangement and closed low-level atmospheric circulation. The rotation of tropical cyclones is anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere.
2. According to NOAA, the four classifications of tropical cyclones are: tropical depression, hurricane, tropical storm and major hurricane. Tropical depression is a tropical cyclone that has a maximum sustained wind traveling at a speed not exceeding 38 mph. tropical storm is a is a tropical cyclone that has a maximum sustained wind traveling at a speed ranging between 39 mph and 73 mph. Hurricane is a tropical cyclone that has a maximum sustained wind traveling at a speed of at least 74 mph. major hurricane is a tropical cyclone that has a maximum sustained wind traveling at a speed of at least 111 mph. According to Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, a major hurricane corresponds to Category 3, 4 or 5.  
3. Tropical cyclones form at latitudes between 5°N and 30°N and they move towards the west direction(National Hurricane Center, (n.d.)).  
4. The peak month for tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Basin is September.
5. The likelihood of hurricane development in March is not likely.
6. The likelihood of hurricane development in November is likely.
7. The prevailing track for hurricane that develop in the ten day period that includes September 30^this as shown in the figure below

1. The hurricane risk pattern from Texas to Maine has a short return period meaning that the region is prone to more frequent hurricanes hence the period of time from one hurricane to another is short. In other words, the risk or likelihood of a hurricane occurring in this region is high. Some of the major factors contributing to this high risk of hurricanes in this region are human and physical geography(Trepanier, et al., 2015).

Question 4 Set

Question 1

1. The date range for the animation created in this experiment is 16-21 February, 2018.
2. One of the images from the animation created in this experiment is as shown below

1. The latitude at the center of the animation created in this experiment, which is 90°N is as shown in the figure below

1. Troughs and ridges in the jet stream pattern on the animation image created in this experiment are as shown in the figure below

1. The pattern is over North America zonal because the pattern flow is in west-east direction (along a latitude circle).
2. Both the jet stream patterns in the slides and animation have roughs and ridges. The jet stream pattern in slides is relatively wavy (hence it is a meridional flow) while the one in the animation is relatively straight (hence it is a zonal flow).

Question 2

	Current Name	Ocean (choose from: N. Pacific, S. Pacific, N. Atlantic, S. Atlantic, Indian, Arctic)
Warm current 1	Gulf Stream	North Atlantic
Warm current 2	Kuroshio Current	North Pacific
Warm current 3	East Australian Current	South Pacific
Cold current 1	West Australian Current	Indian
Cold current 2	Oyashio (Kamchatka) Current	North Pacific
Cold current 3	California Current	North Pacific

Question 3: NOAA: Ocean Circulations

1. The most important driver of surface ocean currents driver is surface winds.
2. Gravity plays a role in determining the path of surface ocean currents by causing density variation of water resulting from the earth’s unevenness. Due to gravity, deep water differs from surface water (deep water is colder than surface currents and the salt content in deep water is higher than that in surface water), which plays a key role in creating surface ocean currents’ path. Gravity is responsible for pulling surface water downwards, creating a Coriolis Effect.
3. This is because of the earth’s rotation, which causes deflection of wind to the right and left in the northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere respectively (a phenomenon called Coriolis Effect). The earth’ surface also rotates faster at the equator than at the poles, causing the deflection.
4. Winds, water density variations, gravity, earth’s rotation and ocean basins’ shape.
5. Gulf Stream, North Atlantic Current, Canary Current and Atlantic North Equatorial.
6. Ten years (a decade).
7. No question
8. Near North Atlantic pole
9. 1,000 years (a millennium).

Question 4

Pacific garbage patch refers to a phenomena that happens as a result of ocean currents eddying in the North Pacific Ocean (in clockwise direction), collecting and depositing large volumes of trash there. This waste accumulates over time, choking the water space and making it difficult to clean. The waste (marine debris) comprises of plastics, soil particles, toxic substances, fishing nets, etc. This phenomena has devastating effects on humans and sea creatures and animals (Raunek, 2017). The largest percentage (about 80%) of Pacific garbage patch debris originates from land-based activities in Asia and North America, whereas the remaining 20% comes from large cargo ships, offshore oil rigs and boaters (National Geographic Society, 2018).

Question 5

1. It occurs in the southwestern U.S. and in the Indian Ocean.
2. They are both annual monsoons that occur during the same period of the year and they have a significant intensity level.  
3. The Southwest Monsoon is less intense than the Asian Monsoon. The Southwest Monsoon originates from the southern hemisphere while the Asian Monsoon originates from the northern subtropical zone(Han, et al., 2010).

Question 6

1. Clockwise and counterclockwise rotation of tropical cyclones

The main reason why tropical cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere circulate in a counterclockwise direction while those in the Southern hemisphere circulate in a clockwise direction is because of Coriolis force or effect that is created by the earth’s rotation. This force pulls or deflects the wind to the left and right in the southern hemisphere and northern hemisphere respectively. The phenomenon that causes the wind to move in a counterclockwise direction in the northern hemisphere and in clockwise direction in the southern hemisphere is known as wind convergence and divergence. When low pressure start develops in the northern hemisphere, the surface winds start flowing inwards so as to occupy the low pressure zone. The wind gets deflected to the right, which initiates a counterclockwise rotation. The opposite happens when this phenomena occurs in the southern hemisphere where the wind gets deflected to the left, initiating a clockwise direction.  

1. Tropical cyclone in the northern hemisphere

Paste image of Northern Hemisphere tropical cyclone here

Cyclone name: Hurricane Patricia (Sherman, 2015)

Cyclone Ocean Basin: North Atlantic Ocean

Image date: Friday, October 23, 2015

1. Tropical cyclone in the southern hemisphere

Paste image of Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone here

Cyclone name: Cyclone Raquel

Cyclone Ocean Basin: Australian Region

Image date: Wednesday, July 1, 2015 (Radio New Zealand, 2015)

Ocean Circulation

Question 7

First, it is very important for the government and private stakeholders to put in place measures (such as proper infrastructure and other resources) that will prevent or reduce impacts of weather hazards and other possible natural disasters. This should be done considering that natural disasters can occur at any time hence it is essential for the emergency response teams and other stakeholders (including the general public) to be prepared at all times for quick response and remediation actions. Second, different neighboring countries should work collaboratively to develop and implement prediction and risk management strategies aimed at reducing impacts of natural disasters. Third, occurrence of tropical storms or cyclones is largely influenced by a region’s physical and human geographical features or landscape. The likelihood of these disasters happening has continued to increase due to changing weather patterns, climate change and global warming. Fourth, tropical cyclones have numerous social, economic and environmental impacts.

Question 8-10

Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria had several similarities and differences. One of the similarities is that their occurrence was significantly influenced by climate change. Another similarity is that the three hurricanes dumped very large volumes of rain that damaged or overwhelmed weather measuring instruments. The three hurricanes recorded deaths (Harvey – 82, Irma – 61 and Maria – 55) and damage costs (Harvey – $180billion, Irma – $150-$200 billion and Maria – $5-$95 billion) (Willingham, 2017). Therefore the three hurricanes had devastating destruction to the infrastructure in their respective regions of occurrence. All the three hurricanes were also of category 4 (based on their maximum strength). These hurricanes also occurred during one hurricane season (Harvey – August 23-30, 2017, Irma – August 30-September 1, 2017, and Maria – September 16-30, 2017).

One of the differences between the three hurricanes is their occurrence locations. Hurricane Harvey occurred in Texas, Louisiana, Hurricane Irma occurred in Florida, Georgia, and Hurricane Maria occurred in Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands. The second difference is that even though the speed and strength of these hurricanes were high, each of them recorded different numbers. Harvey’s wind speed reached 150 mph, Irma’s 185 mph, Maria’s reached 155 mph. Another difference are the threats and problems that were caused by the three hurricanes. Hurricane Harvey caused massive flooding, Hurricane Maria caused disastrous high winds and Hurricane Irma caused deadly storm surges. The response actions taken after the occurrence of these three hurricanes were also different. Generally, response to Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma was quick, more organized and intensive. There were more FEMA and federal personnel, donations and supplies to these two hurricanes that Hurricane Maria (Levenson, 2017). President Trump also visited Harvey and Irma within the first week of occurrence but two weeks after Maria’s occurrence, the president had not yet visited the affected region, resulting to debate on his decision.

References

Bralower, T. & Bice, D., 2011. Major Deep Water Masses. [Online] Available at: https://www.e-education.psu.edu/earth103/node/847
[Accessed 24 February 2018].

Bureau of Meteorology, 2018. The Three Phases of the El Nino -Southern Oscillation (ENSO). [Online] Available at: https://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/history/ln-2010-12/three-phases-of-ENSO.shtml[Accessed 24 February 2018].

Devlin, A., 2017. Winter Is Coming: What is the Gulf Stream, Where Is It, How Does It Affect UK Weather and Why Does It Cause Heavy Snow?. [Online] Available at: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2569640/what-is-the-gulf-stream-where-is-it-how-does-it-affect-uk-weather-and-why-does-it-cause-heavy-snow/[Accessed 24 February 2018].

Han, W., Fang, X., Yang, S. & King, J., 2010. Differences Between East Asian and Indian Monsoon Climate Records During MIS3 attributed to differences in their driving mechanisms: Evidence from the loess record in the Sichuan basin, southwestern China and other continental and marine climate records. Quarternary International, 218(1-2), pp. 94-103.

James, S., 2016. The Walker Cell and ENSO. [Online] Available at: https://www.eoas.ubc.ca/courses/atsc113/sailing/met_concepts/09-met-winds/9c-walker-cell-enso/[Accessed 24 February 2018].

Levenson, E., 2017. 3 Storms, 3 Responses: Comparing Harvey, Irma and Maria. [Online] Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/2017/09/26/us/response-harvey-irma-maria/index.html[Accessed 21 February 2018].

National Geographic Society, 2018. Great Pacific Garbage Patch. [Online] Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/[Accessed 21 February 2018].

National Hurricane Center, (n.d.). Tropical Cyclone Climatology. [Online] Available at: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/climo/[Accessed 22 February 2018].

National Weather Center, 2018. Tropical Cyclone Structure. [Online] Available at: https://www.weather.gov/jetstream/tc_structure[Accessed 22 February 2018].

Radio New Zealand, 2015. Cyclone Raquel Brings Damage and Death to Solomons. [Online] Available at: https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/278179/cyclone-raquel-brings-damage-and-death-to-solomons[Accessed 21 February 2018].

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