Tropical storms and hurricanes have reached their peak intensity and are seen to migrate at about 30 miles per decade as per the new study. If this is constant, major consequences can be caused for places such as Brisbane, Australia, Japan, Tokyo, New York City and other areas of high latitude, wherein intense hurricanes are not normally seen.
Hurricanes
The study that was published in this Journal Nature was first for detecting this trend and while doing so, a tangible but indirect link was revealed between the powerful storms of Mother Nature and human activities.
For reaching the conclusions, a formidable obstacle was overcome by researchers which has hindered the research on links between global warming and hurricanes. There are changes in how the intensity of tropical cyclones are measured and detected over the years. Trends that are statistically significant are found over the years. In the new study, a metric known as the “lifetime-maximum intensity” of a storm during the year from 1982 to the year 2012 is examined. This is a period when no complications are seen of the storm observation chances. This is a period where storms max out in strength.
When storm data is examined with the help of this metric, a strikingly apparent poleward shift was found by the researchers in locations where storms reach their peak intensity. Although, there is variation in changes from ocean basins to ocean basins, greatest migration was seen in Western North Pacific Ocean, which is considered to be quite active for tropical cyclones.
