HYPERCANE is a new word I have learned after reading a disturbing note in the Periscope section of NEWSWEEK Magazine (October 3, 2005). The article takes issue if there would be more deadly hurricanes in the future like Katrina, the killer superstorm that had mercilessly devastated an entire American city, and left a whole nation in virtual shock.
What are hypercanes? Hypercane is a kind of hurricane that is at least thrice the strength of Katrina and would be deadly like upon a nuclear bomb, where anything on its path---all structures and life-forms---would be banished in seconds. The term was first coined by MIT Professor Kerry Emmanuel when he put into motion a computer model of a super-hurricane, one that could result from extreme temperatures in the ocean, about 80 degrees to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Obviously, the present times have not experienced a storm anywhere near the strength of a hypercane but scientific studies have reasonably showed that giant storms have frequently disturbed the Earth's surfaces in the ancient times, and may even have contributed to the complete extinction of the dinosaurs. MIT's Emmanuel has strongly theorized that frequent and huge meteorite impacts in the very far past had caused the rising of the ocean's temperature and thus, giving birth to giant and so very ferocious hypercanes, affecting and wiping-out the dinosaurs roaming inland as well as their habitats.
If Emmanuel's theory is credible enough then we have another huge reason to counter and stave off the onset of global warming. It turns out that rise in the oceans' temperature would not only lead to the elevation of sea level (putting in danger many of the world's seaside cities) but could also create sinistrous weather condition that may result to deadly storms like Katrina. Maybe it's time that heavily industrialized countries like America and Australia sign the Kyoto Pact against global warming. Maybe, the warning signs have been too loud for for us to ignore.
What are hypercanes? Hypercane is a kind of hurricane that is at least thrice the strength of Katrina and would be deadly like upon a nuclear bomb, where anything on its path---all structures and life-forms---would be banished in seconds. The term was first coined by MIT Professor Kerry Emmanuel when he put into motion a computer model of a super-hurricane, one that could result from extreme temperatures in the ocean, about 80 degrees to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Obviously, the present times have not experienced a storm anywhere near the strength of a hypercane but scientific studies have reasonably showed that giant storms have frequently disturbed the Earth's surfaces in the ancient times, and may even have contributed to the complete extinction of the dinosaurs. MIT's Emmanuel has strongly theorized that frequent and huge meteorite impacts in the very far past had caused the rising of the ocean's temperature and thus, giving birth to giant and so very ferocious hypercanes, affecting and wiping-out the dinosaurs roaming inland as well as their habitats.
If Emmanuel's theory is credible enough then we have another huge reason to counter and stave off the onset of global warming. It turns out that rise in the oceans' temperature would not only lead to the elevation of sea level (putting in danger many of the world's seaside cities) but could also create sinistrous weather condition that may result to deadly storms like Katrina. Maybe it's time that heavily industrialized countries like America and Australia sign the Kyoto Pact against global warming. Maybe, the warning signs have been too loud for for us to ignore.
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