Gulf Warm-Water Eddies Intensify Hurricane Changes

[stroober]

Scientists monitoring ocean heat and circulation in the Gulf of Mexico during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have a new understanding of how these tropical storms can gain intensity so quickly: The Gulf of Mexico's "Loop Current" is likely intensifying hurricanes that pass over eddies of warm water that spin off the main current.

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And its oly gonna get worser

 

[onemonkey]

- eddie's in the space-time continuum
- is he?

 

[parallelepipete]

- eddie's in the space-time continuum
- is he?

No, just his sofa.

 

[parallelepipete]

Right, flippancy mode off.

There was an article in New Scientist reporting findings from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (both US) that although there's no evidence of hurricanes becoming more frequent, the proportion reaching categories 4 or 5 has been measurably increasing over the last 30 years. Also an MIT study calculated that the destructive power of hurricanes had increased by 50% in the last 50 years.

 

[J77]

The temperature fluctations in the Gulf are a cyclic thing.

However, the 'base-line' of this cycle has risen in recent years (due to global warming), adn therefore the hurricanes - which fluctuate in size with the cycle - are getting bigger and badder.