The Causes and Remedies for Hurricanes

A hurricane is a powerful, spiraling storm that begins over warm seawater near the equator. The ocean water must be at least 80% and for this reason hurricanes form only in the Southern Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Eastern Pacific. Hurricanes west of the International Date Line are called typhoons.

Hurricanes can form only over very warm water. The atmosphere must cool off very fast the higher you go. The warm ocean water warms the air above it. This air rises because it is lighter than the cooler air above. When the warm air reaches the cooler air above, the water vapor turns into water drops and warms the surrounding air. When the warm air rises, the cool air replaces it and wind is created. The wind will start spinning because of what is called the Coriolis Force and a tropical storm or hurricane forms. Many of the inner mechanics of a hurricane are still not well understood.

The Coriolis Force is due to the rotation of the earth and deflects objects to one side. In the Northern Hemisphere objects go to the right. In the Northern Hemisphere storms rotate counter clockwise.

Since 1970 the number of hurricanes has dropped but the number of category four and five have nearly doubled. The temperature of the sea has risen and scientists posit that this has caused the bigger storms. They believe that the reason there are fewer hurricanes is that the more powerful storms have used up more energy thus leaving following storms with not enough energy to make a hurricane.

The storm surge is often more damaging than the winds of a hurricane. It is not caused solely by the high winds. The hurricane literally sucks up a wall of water than can reach ten feet. This water is then pushed ahead of the hurricane and can grow to 25 feet. When the wall hits land it can rise as high as 40 feet.

Alexander Chorin at the University of California at Berkeley thinks he may have a solution to the formation of hurricanes. Noting that ancient seafarers literally poured oil on troubled waters, he has mathematically modeled the effect of oil on water. He states that oil inhibits the formation of water drops and would increase the drag in the air, thus reducing the intensity of a storm. He has suggested that airplanes could deliver harmless surfactants to the water, reducing surface tension and stopping droplets from forming.

Julian Hurt of University College in the U.K. disagrees. He has studied the inner mechanisms of hurricanes and thinks that variations of turbulence between different regions of the hurricane create sharp jumps in wind speed.

On a lighter note, feminine names only were dropped in 1979, after many complaints from women. Storms are named because it has proved to be the most effective and least confusing way to communicate about them. If a hurricane has been especially damaging, its name is retired.