Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: The frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones could increase this century due to global warming, says a new study.
About 90 tropical cyclones form each year around the world on an average but the rise in greenhouse gas emissions could lead to a 10 to 40 percent increase in the frequency of tropical cyclones by the year 2100.
Using the latest global climate computer models to simulate tropical cyclones around the world, the study found that the storms will become more intense as global warming heats the oceans.
“These storms may produce 45 percent more power, generating stronger winds, rain and storm surges around the world,” said climate researcher Kerry Emanuel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Emanuel also found that the largest increases in these storm activities “might occur in the western North Pacific region, but with noticeable increases in the South Indian Ocean and in the North Atlantic region.”
The study was published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
