The planet Earth is in a constant struggle to find a balance between the equator and the poles.“In the lower latitudes, the sun shines brighter and longer. It’s the opposite in the northern latitudes, closer to the poles. What that does is creates a deficit, a difference in heat,” said Pablo Santos, meteorologist in charge for the National Weather Service Miami Office.In an attempt to correct these differences in temperature, the Earth creates weather systems, some big and some small. “Hurricanes typically form during the summer, northern hemisphere summer and southern hemisphere summer, and a lot of what they do is they transport energy, since they form near the equator, they transport energy from the equator to the poles. That’s basically one of the primary reasons we have hurricanes,” says Philip Klotzbach, research scientist in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University. But while hurricanes are important to help balance the planet, they can be devastating to people and property. Over the years, many theories have surfaced about how we can minimize or rid ourselves of hurricanes altogether. But the experts say these proposals are futile and dangerous.“All of these ideas have failed because hurricanes are very powerful heat engines, and we as humans are very puny compared to hurricanes,” Klotzbach said. “As a scientist, my sense is don’t mess with mother nature. The processes that are in place by mother nature are there for a reason. They just don’t happen for nothing,” Santos said.So hurricanes are here to stay, and so are we. The good news for us is that with huge advancements in technology like the new multi-billion dollar GOES satellites, we will be able to have more advanced warnings than ever before this hurricane season. Watch the video above for the full story.
The planet Earth is in a constant struggle to find a balance between the equator and the poles.
“In the lower latitudes, the sun shines brighter and longer. It’s the opposite in the northern latitudes, closer to the poles. What that does is creates a deficit, a difference in heat,” said Pablo Santos, meteorologist in charge for the National Weather Service Miami Office.
In an attempt to correct these differences in temperature, the Earth creates weather systems, some big and some small.
“Hurricanes typically form during the summer, northern hemisphere summer and southern hemisphere summer, and a lot of what they do is they transport energy, since they form near the equator, they transport energy from the equator to the poles. That’s basically one of the primary reasons we have hurricanes,” says Philip Klotzbach, research scientist in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University.
But while hurricanes are important to help balance the planet, they can be devastating to people and property.
Over the years, many theories have surfaced about how we can minimize or rid ourselves of hurricanes altogether. But the experts say these proposals are futile and dangerous.
“All of these ideas have failed because hurricanes are very powerful heat engines, and we as humans are very puny compared to hurricanes,” Klotzbach said.
“As a scientist, my sense is don’t mess with mother nature. The processes that are in place by mother nature are there for a reason. They just don’t happen for nothing,” Santos said.
So hurricanes are here to stay, and so are we. The good news for us is that with huge advancements in technology like the new multi-billion dollar GOES satellites, we will be able to have more advanced warnings than ever before this hurricane season.
Watch the video above for the full story.
