According to research published today, globallywarmingMay increase the intensity of the most severe tropical cyclones.
In tropical areas where cyclones are brewing, each degree of sea temperature rise could increase the number of the most intense storms by nearly a third, the study said.
"As seawater warms, the ocean has more energy that can be transformed into the strong winds of tropical cyclones," the study authors said in the report, published in the British journal Nature.
In the past, academic research based on observations over the past three decades found that hurricanes have become more powerful due to seawater warming.
However, the observational data for the Atlantic region are relativelyIndiaOceanic cyclones and Pacific cyclonestyphoonThe observations made were more detailed and older.
To fill in the gaps, three U.S. scientists studied satellite data from 1981 to 2006 for all storm-generating oceans.
They counted the number of storms, as well as the maximum wind speed during each storm, and compared them with sea surface temperatures.
Over these twenty-five years, scholars have found no increase in the overall number of storms.
But in the most intense storms, or storms at about the highest intensity level, wind speeds increase significantly.
Except for the South Pacific, this trend appears in almost all storm-generating sea areas, that is, the more violent the cyclone, the greater the change.
This situation occurs obviously because the South Pacific is already the warmest sea area, so compared with the Atlantic, Indian Ocean and North Pacific, the temperature increase is relatively low.
Scholars have found no increase in wind speed in less intense storms.
by florida stateUniversityThe study, conducted by a research team led by Elsner, supports the so-called "thermal engine theory," which is based on the concept that warming seawater can provide more raw thermal fuel to drive cyclones.
The report estimates that each degree Celsius increase in seawater temperature will cause the number of "severe" cyclones to increase from 13 to 17 per year, an increase of 31%.
Made up of top scientistsUnited NationsWhen the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its Fourth Assessment Report last year, it said that from 1906 to 2005, global sea surface temperatures increased by 0.74 degrees Celsius, with most of the increase is concentrated in recent decades.
The team predicts that by 2100, the warming will be between 1.8 degrees Celsius and 4 degrees Celsius.
