"Over the past week, media across the world have proclaimed 2020 a record year for hurricanes in the North Atlantic.
The culprit?
Man-made climate change, of course.
But this is a mistake, not only because the “records” are misleading but also because the causes of hurricanes are natural phenomena over which we have little or no influence.
...Other media sources put the primary blame squarely on man-made global warming, which supposedly has made the Gulf of Mexico warmer and the air more humid thereby making tropical cyclones—called hurricanes in the North Atlantic—more frequent and more intense.
But this is misleading.
...Other media sources put the primary blame squarely on man-made global warming, which supposedly has made the Gulf of Mexico warmer and the air more humid thereby making tropical cyclones—called hurricanes in the North Atlantic—more frequent and more intense.
But this is misleading.
Dr. Roy Spencer, a principal research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, explained that “major hurricanes don’t really care whether the Gulf [of Mexico] is above average or below average in temperature.”
...America’s “hurricane guru,” the late Dr. Bill Gray, emeritus professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University, showed that the seasonal hurricane frequency is determined by six factors:
...America’s “hurricane guru,” the late Dr. Bill Gray, emeritus professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University, showed that the seasonal hurricane frequency is determined by six factors:
- The rotational tendency, or vorticity, already present in the atmosphere
- Pressure gradients determined by latitude
- Wind shear, the changes in wind speed and direction that occur between layers in the atmosphere. High wind shear can tear storms apart before they form tropical cyclones. Low wind shear allows storms to grow into hurricanes if the other conditions are right.
- Ocean thermal energy
- The rate of change of temperature with altitude
- Relative humidity in the mid-troposphere..Read all!
