Severe Weather! © The GlobalEd 2 Project Photo credit: Tyrone Turner, National Geographic Homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Severe Weather!

© The GlobalEd 2 Project

Photo credit: Tyrone Turner, National GeographicHomes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina

Essential Questions

1. What is severe weather? Is it just one type of weather?

2. Why should anyone care about severe weather?

3. How do greenhouse gases affect severe weather?

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Enduring Understandings

1. There are several different types of severe weather.

2. Severe weather impacts our lives in many ways.

3. Scientists believe that an increase in greenhouse gases, will increase severe weather patterns.

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Examples of Severe Weather

• Hurricanes, typhoons, tropical cyclone, monsoons

• Floods

• Tornadoes

• Drought

© The GlobalEd 2 Project Photo credit: Carsten Peter, National Geographic

Definitions

• A hurricane is an intense, rotating oceanic weather system that possesses maximum sustained winds exceeding 119 km/hr (74 mph). It forms and intensifies over tropical oceanic regions

• A tropical cyclone is composed of a system of thunderstorms that shows a cyclonic rotation around a central core or eye.

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Definitions (continuation)

• A typhoon is a violent tropical hurricane/cyclone that occurs in the west Pacific and the Indian Ocean. A typhoon is also a natural disaster. A tropical storm that forms over the Pacific Ocean, when winds reach 74 mph, it is considered to be a typhoon.

• The word typhoon comes from the Chinese term tai-fung meaning “great wind”...

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Definitions(continuation)

• A tornado is a powerful column of winds spiraling around a center of low atmospheric pressure. It looks like a large black funnel hanging down from a storm cloud. The narrow end will move over the earth, whipping back and forth like a tail.

• The word "tornado" comes from the Latin tonare, meaning "to thunder." The Spanish developed the word into tornear, to turn or twist.

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Definitions(continuation)

• Monsoons are seasonal winds that bring moist air from oceans and seas over land. The winds are in the reverse direction of flow from the non-monsoon season, and can generate great amounts of precipitation, as well as changes in the surface currents in the sea.

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Global Warming & Severe Weather

• Research Meteorologists found that the temperature changes brought on by global warming are significant enough to cause an increase in the occurrence of severe storms. Severe storms are those that cause flooding, have damaging winds, hail and could cause tornados. Their study revealed that by the end of this century, the number of days that favor severe storms could more than double in certain locations, such as Atlanta and New York.

• Source: The American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union; http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2009/0109-global_warming_causes_severe_storms.htm

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Global Warming & Severe Weather

• “There is observational evidence for an increase of intense tropical cyclone activity in the North Atlantic since about 1970, correlated with increases of tropical sea surface temperatures.”

• “It is very likely that the human-induced increase in greenhouse gases has contributed to the increase in sea surface temperatures in the hurricane formation regions. “

Source: http://www.usgcrp.gov/usgcrp/links/hurricanes.htm

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Impact of Severe Weather

• Severe weather events cost billions in dollars every year

• Severe weather causes thousands of deaths every year

• No one around the world is safe from severe weather events. Temperatures can plummet or soar, winds can reach devastating levels, and rains can wipe out an area.

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Impact of Severe Weather

Understanding the science behind these storms is crucial for both safety and public knowledge.

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