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Climate Change Fueled Hurricane Beryl’s Record Early Intensification
Context:
Hurricane Beryl set a record as the earliest Category 5 storm in the Atlantic hurricane season.
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- Earlier this month, Hurricane Beryl caused widespread devastation across the Caribbean islands due to severe flooding and strong winds in Jamaica, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and northern Venezuela.
- It later made landfall in Texas, USA, as a Category 1 storm, leading to flooding and power outages affecting over two million residents.
Hurricane Beryl’s Rapid Rise
- As reported by NOAA within just 48 hours of forming as a tropical depression with 56.3 kmph winds, Beryl intensified into a Category 4 hurricane, marking the earliest occurrence of a Category 4 hurricane in June.
- The earliest emergence of a Category 4 hurricane was previously seen in the case of Hurricane Dennis on July 8, 2005.
- It was also the strongest July Atlantic hurricane on record, with winds of 265.5 kmph.
- Warmer Oceans: The unusually early formation and rapid intensification of Hurricane Beryl can be attributed to warmer ocean temperatures.
The Atlantic waters were hotter than usual for this time of year, providing the necessary energy for storm development.
- Implications and Urgency: Beryl’s sustained winds reached Category 5 levels (252 kmph or higher).
- Such storms pose significant risks to life and property, emphasising the urgency of understanding climate change’s impact on hurricane behaviour.
About Hurricane
- Hurricanes, or tropical storms, form over warm ocean waters near the equator.
- They are also known as typhoons or cyclones, depending on their location.
- Originates in the Atlantic basin, including the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, eastern North Pacific Ocean, and sometimes the central North Pacific Ocean.
Mechanism:
- When the warm, moist air from the ocean surface rises upward, a lower air pressure area is formed below.
- Air from surrounding areas with higher air pressure rushes into this low-pressure area, eventually rising after it becomes warm and moist.
- As warm, moist air rises, it cools down, and the water in the air forms clouds and thunderstorms.
This whole system of clouds and winds gains strength and momentum using the ocean’s heat and the water that evaporates from its surface.
Storm systems with wind speeds of 119 kmph and above are classified as hurricanes.
- They are classified using the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale into five categories based on their sustained wind speeds.
- Due to Earth’s rotation, storms north of the equator spin counterclockwise, and storms South of the equator spin clockwise.