Hurricanes  and Global Warming 

Hurricanes have been increasing intensity since the 1970s (Knutson, 2019; Sobel et al., 2016). The intense hurricanes are marked by carrying higher wind speeds and more precipitation. Research findings using the hurricane model calibrated over the historical period projects that hurricanes are expected to be intense in the coming years (Knutson, 2019). This follows trends where scientists reveal that hurricane activity over the past 40 years has been increasingly becoming intense. For example, the number of North American hurricanes that reach levels 4 and 5 have been high in the past 15-year period compared to the prior 15-year period (Sobel et al., 2016). In 2017, Hurricane Harvey's precipitation level was very high. Typhoons also in the western North Pacific Ocean are becoming intense at unprecedented levels. 

Hurricane intensification is primarily contributed by global warming following the effects of rising sea lives (Garrison & Ellis, 2016; Knutson, 2019) and a growing population along the coastlines (Sobel et al., 2016). Due to the increasing temperature on the earth, there are high chances that there will be a storm with high precipitation levels. This is because the ocean absorbs more than 90 percent of the earth's temperature as a result of human activities, which causes rising temperatures in the sea. According to 2016 data, sea surface temperatures have warmed up globally by about an average of 0.1°C per decade (United States Environmental Protection Agency [EPA]). This causes the sea level to rise, water to expand by about 7-8 inches, and high humidity (Sobel et al., 2016). The impetus is coastal storm surges setting the pace for intense hurricanes as this provides a conducive condition for formation and growth combined with relatively strong constant winds (Garrison & Ellis, 2016). Thus, continued global warming means that there will be higher wind speeds combined with high levels of precipitation leading to more intense hurricanes.

                   References

1. Garrison, T. S., & Ellis, R. (2016). Oceanography: An invitation to Marine Science. National Geographic Learning
    
2. Knutson, T. (2019). Hurricanes and Climate Change. American Meteorological Society.      https://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0189.1 (Links to an external site.)

  3. Sobel, A. H., Camargo, S. J., Hall, T. M., Lee, C. Y., Tippett, M. K., & Wing, A. A. (2016). Human influence on tropical cyclone intensity. Science, 353(6296), 242-246.

  4.  United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2016). Climate Change Indicators: Sea Surface Temperature. https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-sea-surface-temperature