Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Cyclones spurt water into stratosphere, feeding Global Warming

Tropical Cyclone Hudah was one of most powerful storms ever seen in the Indian Ocean. (Credit: Liam Gumley, Space Science and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Scientists have found that tropical cyclones readily inject ice far into the stratosphere, possibly feeding global warming. The finding provides more evidence of the intertwining of severe weather and global warming by demonstrating a mechanism by which storms could drive climate change.

The finding, published in Geophysical Research Letters, provides more evidence of the intertwining of severe weather and global warming by demonstrating a mechanism by which storms could drive climate change. Many scientists now believe that global warming, in turn, is likely to increase the severity of tropical cyclones.

"Since water vapor is an important greenhouse gas, an increase of water vapor in the stratosphere would warm the Earth's surface," says David M. Romps, a research associate in Harvard's Department of Earth and Planetary Science. "Our finding that tropical cyclones are responsible for many of the clouds in the stratosphere opens up the possibility that these storms could affect global climate, in addition to the oft-mentioned possibility of climate change affecting the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones." …

Cyclones Spurt Water Into Stratosphere, Feeding Global Warming

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