Climate Change increases Strength of Super typhoons

A study conducted by an international team of researchers has found that the rising temperature on the planet has been strengthening the intensity of tropical cyclones in the north-west Pacific. According to the researchers, ferocity of tropical cyclones will continue to increase with change in the earth’s climate over the century.

During the study, the researchers analyzed more than 800 typhoons in the north-west Pacific and discovered that the intensity of the storms has increased about 10% since 1970s. According to Wei Mei, a climate scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California and co-author of the study, the increase is surprising.

The researchers used about 20 models and projection of CO2 emissions and found that the maximum intensity of storms like super Typhoon Haiyan will become ever stronger in near future if temperature continues to rise. Typhoon Haiyan had hit the Philippines in 2013.

According to the study published in the journal Science Advances, storms like Typhoon Haiyan will be about 14% stronger by 2100. The researchers said during the study, they tried to identify whether factors responsible for more powerful events like warmer sea surface temperatures could be countered by changes in ocean. Temperate rise in the top 75 meters of the oceans could dominate other influences, as per the researchers.

Storms like Haiyan could impact the areas in their pathway. In 2013, Haiyan left over 6, 000 people dead and more than 1,000 missing in the Philippines alone.

The study found that rise in sea surface temperatures is responsible for the increase in intensity of typhoon. The researcher said, “The strengthened typhoon intensity poses heightened threats to human society and marine/terrestrial ecosystems. Meanwhile, the intensification of these powerful storms may accelerate ocean warming and affect heat transport in both the ocean and the atmosphere”.