Sign In
Learn bits
World Affairs, Ecology & Environment
Mahesh

02/07/24 10:58 AM IST

Hurricanes and their types

In News
  • Following their win in the ICC World T20 Cup, the Indian cricket team has been stranded in Barbados due to Hurricane Beryl.
Hurricane Beryl
  • Hurricane Beryl is the earliest category 4 storm – sustaining winds of at least 130 miles per hour (209 kilometres per hour) – to mark the beginning of the Atlantic hurricane season this year.
  • It is currently surging through the Windward Islands, the southern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form part of the West Indies and comprise Barbados, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago.
  • A landfall is not likely to occur but the nearest islands are expected to be heavily affected, with island communities facing the prospects of violent winds and flash flooding.
  • Beryl is the strongest storm to impact the Windward Islands since Hurricane Ivan in September 2004.
Hurricanes & their Types
  • Tropical cyclones or hurricanes use warm, moist air as fuel, and therefore form over warm ocean waters near the equator.
  • As NASA describes it, when the warm, moist air rises upward from the surface of the ocean, it creates an area of low air pressure below.
  • Air from the surrounding areas rushes to fill this place, eventually rising when it becomes warm and moist too.
  • When the warm air rises and cools off, the moisture forms clouds.
  • This system of clouds and winds continues to grow and spin, fuelled by the ocean’s heat and the water that evaporates from its surface.
  • As such storm systems rotate faster and faster, an eye forms in the centre.
  • Storms that form towards the north of the equator rotate counterclockwise, while those that form to the south spin clockwise because of the rotation of the Earth.
Hurricanes V/s Tropical Cyclones
  • There is no difference. Depending on where they occur, hurricanes may be called typhoons or cyclones.
  • As per NASA, the scientific name for all these kinds of storms is tropical cyclones.
  • The tropical cyclones that form over the Atlantic Ocean or the eastern Pacific Ocean are called hurricanes and the ones that form in the Northwest Pacific are called typhoons.
  • Tropical storms that form in the Bay of Bengal or the Arabian Sea are called cyclones.
Source- Indian Express

More Related Current Affairs View All

14 Nov

India’s tea, sugar exports raise sustainability concerns at home

'India is one of the world’s largest agricultural product exporters.' The Indian agricultural export is valued at $53.1 billion in 2022-2023, up from $8.7 billion in 2004-

Read More

14 Nov

Superbugs and the looming public health crisis

'LESS than a hundred years ago, antibiotics ushered in an era that transformed medical care.' It saved millions of lives and accelerated the development and use of complex surge

Read More

13 Nov

Healthy longevity initiative

'The World Bank report proposes a healthy longevity initiative (HLI) which takes a life course approach.' Briefly, healthy longevity entails sharply reducing avoidable death and

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps