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According to climatologists and weather experts, climate change does not increase the frequency of hurricanes but makes this extreme weather form more intense and destructive.
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| Cyclone Freddy devastates Malawi |
Cyclone refers to storms that form in the Indian Ocean, also known as cyclones. Hurricane refers to tropical storms that form in the North Atlantic. Meanwhile, typhoon is used to describe storms in the Pacific Ocean . These natural phenomena are named differently but are all extremely powerful tropical storms, capable of generating 10 times more energy than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945. Tropical storms are classified by wind intensity, increasing from tropical depressions with speeds below 63km/h to tropical storms (63-117km/h) to extremely strong storms with speeds above 117km/h.
A cyclone is a trough of low pressure that forms in the tropics in an area warm enough for this weather phenomenon to develop, said Emmanuel Cloppet of the French Meteorological Agency. It is characterized by rotating rain/storm clouds that create strong winds and heavy rain, and cause sea levels to rise. Cyclones are more dangerous because they can travel hundreds of kilometers.
According to World Weather Attribution (WWA), a group of scientists and climate experts, the total number of tropical storms each year globally has not changed, but climate change caused by human activities has caused storms to rage with greater intensity and more destructive power. Climate change affects tropical storms in three main ways: warming the air, heating the ocean and causing sea levels to rise.
In its Extreme Weather and Climate Change Report, WWA highlights that the most damaging type of storm, cyclones, are becoming more frequent and often bring the most severe rainfall. Climate change is warming ocean waters, allowing intense storms to form, then rapidly intensify and move inland, carrying more water. The strong winds in cyclones cause sea levels to rise, which can inundate coastal areas. Storm surges are now much higher than in previous decades, according to updated data, because sea levels have risen due to climate change.
Meanwhile, Cloppet said that a 3°C increase in air temperature could potentially increase rainfall by 20% during cyclones. These downpours have led to floods and landslides, such as Cyclone Freddy, which killed hundreds of people in Malawi and Mozambique earlier this year. Scientists predict that tropical cyclones will appear in places that have never seen them before, as global warming expands into areas that record tropical ocean conditions.
WWA also agrees that as ocean waters warm, tropical storms will move farther away from the equator. The northward shift of storms in the Northwest Pacific Ocean , hitting East and Southeast Asia, is a direct result of climate change. As a result, these storms will hit areas that are not typically prepared for storms because they have rarely encountered them before.
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