1. Connecting Hurricanes and Global Warming
Madison Durham
English Major/ Spanish Minor
College of Arts and Sciences

2. A Brief Review of Hurricanes

3. Factors that Affect Hurricanes
Sea surface temperature
The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO)
Instability in the atmosphere
Vertical windshear
Tropical waves and other disturbances

4. Climate Change

5. Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF9LNuH3IpU
Hank Green, who made this video, is a YouTube personality along with his brother John Green. Hank has degrees in Biochemistry and Environmental Studies and speaks frequently regarding various scientific and social issues.

6. Effects of Global Warming
Increased sea levels due to melting polar ice
Higher sea surface temperatures
Increased overall global temperatures
Risks of extreme weather systems based on atmospheric instabilities

7. Global Warming and Extreme Weather

8. Impact: Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy

9. Hurricanes and Global Warming
While it is considered by many to be too early to make conclusions about a visible human effect on hurricane strength due to climate change, there are projected increases in hurricane strength and damage rates if the current global temperature increase continues

10. Comparing Averages

11. If Patterns Continue…

12. Even If We Don’t Seem Worried… We’re Worried
Popular culture and media today reflect a great deal of society’s anxiety about climate change.

13. English Major Tie-In
Many books written within the last ten years reflect our emerging fears about the repercussions of climate change—there is even an unofficial new genre name for them: climate fiction.

14. In Conclusion
Hurricanes are tropical cyclones characterized by high wind speeds (>74 mph) and devastating sociological effects.
Global climate change has the potential and has, in the past, demonstrated symptoms that factor into the generation of stronger hurricane cells.
The rising sea levels and increased SST generated by a warming planet create conditions for more deadly hurricanes.
If the trend continues we will begin to see a pattern of Category 4 and 5 storms, as well as an increase in damages incurred worldwide.
Global climate change is closely linked with extreme weather systems, and if something does not change then the amount of tropical cyclones etc we will see can only increase.

15. QUESTIONS?

16. Sources http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/amp-66-4-265.pdf
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