Hurricane Sandy and Global Warming
The devastating tragedy of Hurricane Sandy that occurred during October 2012, in the Caribbean, the Mid Atlantic and the Northeastern United States, left 252 people killed in 7 countries. In the US Sandy became the largest Atlantic hurricane on record; as measured by diameter, with winds spanning, 1,100 miles (1,800 km). Sandy affected 24 states, leaving some people killed, injured, homeless or with no power.
Due to it’s impact in the US, its losses in damage are estimated to be around $65.6 billion. Scientists believe that it is clear, that climate change very likely made Sandy’s impacts worse than they otherwise would have been.
Here are the facts; there are three different ways scientists believe climate change influences Sandy: through the effects of sea levee rise; through abnormally warm sea surface temperatures; and possibly through an unusual weather pattern that some scientists think bore the fingerprint of rapidly disappearing Arctic sea ice.
Scientists said about 1F out of the 5 F East Coast water temperature may have been due to manmade global warming. Unfortunately, since warmer seas provide more water vapor for storms to tap into; this water vapor can later be wrung out as heavy rainfall, resulting in flooding.
In lower Manhattan the water rice impact was the highest ever recorded at that location. It surpassed even the most pessimistic forecasts, with the maximum water level reaching 13.88 feet above the average of the daily lowest low tide of the month.
It is said that the warmer the seas are and the warmer the atmosphere, global warming is also expected to alter hurricane frequency and strength making North Atlantic hurricanes more powerful, while reducing the overall number of storms during coming decades.
Hurricane Sandy, just like other awful natural disasters should help us all recognize and help the environment to prevent the increase of global warming since it is the main cause.
Works Cited:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/31/climate-change-hurricane-sandy-global-warming_n_2050516.html#slide=1715798
http://www.livescience.com/24566-hurricane-sandy-climate-change.html
http://www.livescience.com/24380-hurricane-sandy-status-data.html