Why Hurricane Ida strengthened so rapidly
By the time Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana on Sunday it had strengthened into a ferocious Category 4 storm with 150 miles per hour winds, but the change didn't happen gradually. Less than two days before, Ida's winds were only half that fast, which means that it underwent an increasingly common transformation called rapid intensification, the term scientists use for when a storm's winds pick up by 35 mph or more within 24 hours. You can probably guess one of the causes behind the phenonemon.
Climate change has indeed played a role in supercharging storms, Bloomberg reports. That's because rising ocean temperatures act as a fuel of sorts for storms, and scientists have begun to understand that warm deep ocean water in particular, as opposed to surface temperatures, is a key factor.
"Deeper warm water tends to be more conducive to hurricanes than shallow warm water because as a hurricane moves overhead, its winds churn up the water in a process called upwelling, which brings deeper water up to the surface," Kimberly Wood, an assistant professor in the at Mississippi State University, told Bloomberg. "When that deeper water is a similar and also high temperature to the original sea surface temperature, that 'new' water will continue to provide fuel to the storm."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The good news is that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has tools to measure temperature and salinity (another factor in intensification) conditions up to two kilometers deep. In the case of Ida, NOAA scientists realized there was no cold water deep down beneath the storm, which helped them predict that it would quickly gain steam. Read more at Bloomberg.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Movies to watch in November, from 'Wicked' to 'Gladiator II'
The Week Recommends A major musical adaptation, a Roman Empire sequel and a movie where Santa gets kidnapped
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
-
Where does Elon Musk go from here?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION After gambling big on Donald Trump's reelection bid, the world's wealthiest man is poised to become even more powerful — and controversial — than ever
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Usha Vance: a political spouse with a 'conspicuous resume'
In the Spotlight The new second lady plays a behind-the-scenes role
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
New DNA tests of Pompeii dead upend popular stories
Speed Read An analysis of skeletal remains reveals that some Mount Vesuvius victims have been wrongly identified
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Is Daylight Saving Time good for the climate?
Under the Radar Scientists are split over the potential environmental benefits of the hotly contested time change
By Abby Wilson Published
-
NASA's Europa Clipper blasts off, seeking an ocean
Speed Read The ship is headed toward Jupiter on a yearslong journey
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Detailed map of fly's brain holds clues to human mind
Speed Read This remarkable fruit fly brain analysis will aid in future human brain research
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The pros and cons of GMOs
Pros and Cons The modified crops are causing controversy
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
The UK's worsening wet weather
The Explainer More frequent and intense rain is keeping flood boss 'awake at night'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Is dangerous weather in the Mediterranean Sea the new normal?
Today's Big Question A waterspout, or sea tornado, recently sank a superyacht off the coast of Sicily
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
The moon may be the ideal place to preserve Earth's biodiversity
under the radar A cache in a crater
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published