Hurricanes and typhoons: characteristics and differences

Hurricanes and typhoons are an important part of everyday life. Due to the social, economic and environmental consequences it produces, such natural disasters influence the lives to an increasing part of the Earth's inhabitants, especially the ones living near the Ocean coasts. The paper is divided into two main sections - an introduction into the topic and a research conclusion.

Peter Webster, professor at the Georgia Technical School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, along with Greg Holland, Judith Curry and Hai-Ru Chang, have studied the number, duration, and the intensity of hurricanes that occurred in the period 1970-2004. The authors of the study discovered that the numbers of hurricanes within the fourth and the fifth category, according to the intensity and potential danger to human kind, had doubled in the last 35 years, although their total number had decreased since 1990. In 1970, the number of hurricanes and typhoons from the fourth and fifth category registered per year was approximately 10. Starting with 1990, the number of highly intensive storms of the type described above had almost doubled, reaching an incredible number of 18 events per year.

Whether is Ernesto in the Eastern U.S. coast, John in the Pacific coast of Mexico or Typhoon Saomai in China, hurricanes are a type of natural disasters with huge impact on the natural and human environment - taking lives and destroying houses, forests, crops and schools. As we have seen before, scientists have tried to develop patterns and methods by which they could control and avoid the occurrence of these unfortunate incidents. In the next paragraphs we shall present the conclusions of scientist determined to limit the negative consequences of the hurricanes and typhoons.

Research on hurricanes and typhoons

It must be stated right from the start that hurricanes and typhoons are evaluated and ranked according to the wind power of the phenomena. More precisely, lower hurricanes assume a speed of 74 miles per hour and intensive hurricanes range up to 131 miles per hour. There are different measurement scales, such as Saffir-Simpson, so as to demonstrate the importance given to these natural disasters that influence the life of an increasing number of people. The effect is impressive, a typhoon induces the energy equivalent to 10000 nuclear bombs, producing several dozen meters waves, washing up coasts, buildings and basically all the constructions set under the action of the storm. The cause of the natural disaster is simple - the converging winds which gather power from Ocean coasts and conglomerate into a huge natural force that sweeps away all natural or artificial environment. There are some necessary prerequisite that enable the occurrence of hurricanes and typhoons - high humidity, light winds in the upper atmosphere and warm seas conceive the cyclonic force that is the key defining element of the storm. If one of these elements is not present, the storm will loose in intensity or will not occur at all.