Learning Module 4 Assignment Hurricanes and Climate Change

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University of Texas, El Paso *

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ESCI-1301

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Geography

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Oct 30, 2023

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docx

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ESCI 1301 Learning Module 4 Assignment Hurricanes and Climate Change There are 6 regions of the world where hurricanes are likely to occur. See Map 1 ● East Pacific Ocean ● West Pacific Ocean ● North Atlantic ● Southwestern Pacific ● North Indian Ocean ● South India Ocean The number of hurricanes that happen varies a bit from year to year. But the average number can tell you how many are likely. Take a look at the data table below and transfer the numbers to the provided Excel spread sheet under the Average tab. Copy/paste your resulting graph from the spread sheet below. Hurricane region Hurricane Season Average number of hurricanes/year East Pacific Ocean May-November 9 West Pacific Ocean April-January 17 North Atlantic June-November 6 Southwestern Pacific October-May 5 North Indian Ocean April-December 2 South Indian Ocean October-May 10

Timing of Hurricanes For this portion you’ll be using the Timing tab on the spread sheet. Using the data from the table above, fill in the cells from the hurricane season with different color. Copy/paste your completed graph below. Using the graph, answer the following questions: a. Which regions have hurricane season at about the same time of year? Can you see how regions fall into two groups based on the timing of hurricane season? Which regions have similar timing? The East Pacific Ocean and The North Atlantic have hurrican season at around the same time of year. The West Pacific Ocean and the North Indian Ocean have hurrican season at exactly the same time of year. The Southwest Pacific Ocean and the South Indian Ocean have hurrican season at the same time of year. The two groups that are formed through the timings of hurrican season are a group that has their start of hurrican season in apr-june and the second group begins in oct. being that in north american seasons would be summer months vs fall months. The regions with similar timing that I noticed are regions in the northern hemisphere and ones in the southern hemisphere.

b. Look at where these regions are located on your map. In terms of location, what do regions with similar hurricane seasons have in common? Regions with similarly hurrican seasons, such as The East Pacific Ocean and The North Atalantic Ocean are that they are both in the northern hemisphere. They aslo boarder the Euro-Asia Contients. The West Pacific Ocean and the North Indian Ocean are also both in the northern hemisphere. And the Southwest Pacific Ocean and the South Indian Ocean are both located in the Southern Hemisphere. c. In which seasons are hurricanes most common? Remember, seasons are opposite in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. In the Nothern Hemisphere it seems that the season where hurricanes are most common would be Late Spring into Fall/Winter (Apr-Jan) In the Southern Hemisphere the seasons where hurricanes are most common would also be their Late spring into early Fall/Winter (Oct-May) Map 2: Sea Surface Temperatures map. We know that hurricanes form about warm ocean water. And it’s thought that warmer water can lead to stronger hurricanes. The Earth warmed 1 ° F over the 20 th century. Warming is causing sea surface temperatures to climb. Scientists are working to determine whether warming had an impact on hurricanes by looking at the history of hurricanes. The table below shows the total number of hurricanes that happened in each region during 3 time periods. The lower table shows the number of very strong hurricanes that happened over the same 3 time periods. Under the Number tab on the spreadsheet input the numbers of strong hurricanes from the table below. Copy/paste your graphs below and use the data to answer the following questions: a. Has the total number of hurricanes increased, decreased, or stayed the same? Is the trend the same for all regions? In all but two regions the total number of hurricanes has increased over the years, only in two regions one (Southwestern Pacific) has increased and then decreased and the other (North Indian Ocean) stayed the same throughout the years. b. Has the number of strong (Category 4 and 5) storms increased, decreased, or stayed about the same? Is the trend the same for all regions? In all regions expect for one the number of stronger storms has increased, only in one region (East Pacific Ocean) the numer decreased from the prior numbers. Total Number of Hurricanes Hurricane region 1971-1985 1986-2000 2001-2016 East Pacific Ocean 148 150 143 West Pacific Ocean 137 228 228 North Atlantic 78 92 116

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Southwestern Pacific 76 101 76 North Indian Ocean 0 17 17 South Indian Ocean 91 123 129 Number of Strong Hurricanes (Category 4 and 5) Total Number of Hurricanes Hurricane region 1971-1985 1986-2000 2001-2016 East Pacific Ocean 35 50 40 West Pacific Ocean 24 22 37 North Atlantic 13 21 31 Southwestern Pacific 7 9 23 North Indian Ocean 0 4 6 South Indian Ocean 16 22 34