Global Warming Will Change Wind: Study

http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/gl0910/2009GL037500/2009GL037500.pdf

A recent American study now suggests that climate change will affect circumstances of extreme wind across the globe.

Researchers from the Rosenstiel School for Marine and Atmospheric Science in Miami, Florida conducted a study that shows extreme wind events will increase in some areas and decrease in others due to global warming. Europe is hit hard every year with windstorms and the recent sandstorms in Austrailia were caused by high winds. The study is called “Model projected changes of extreme wind events in response to global warming”.

“Extreme weather events impact a wide range of social, economic and environmental systems. This study examines the changes in the frequency of extreme wind storm events in response to [global warming].” (Gastineau & Soden, 2009)

Issues involved with extreme winds include: structural damage, broken telephone and light poles, and downed trees. Airlines also are heavily affected by strong winds because it easily disrupts take-off and landing of aircrafts.

“The frequency of extreme near-surface wind speed decreases in the tropics but increases in the extratropics in response to global warming” (Gastineau & et al., 2009), says the study conducted by G. Gastineau and B. J. Soden.

The study goes on to say,

“The frequency of the strongest wind events decreases between 40°N and 40°S, with the exception of the central Pacific Ocean. However, the strongest wind events are more frequent in the storm-track regions, around the 60° latitudes of both hemispheres” (Gastineau et al., 2009).

The full study appears in the Geophysical Research Letters.

References

Gastineau, G., & Soden, B. J. (2009). Model projected changes of extreme wind events in response to global warming. Geophysical Research Letters, 36. Retrieved from http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/gl0910/2009GL037500/2009GL037500.pdf doi: 10.1029/2009GL037500