Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Saturday 29 September 2018

Warm waters boosted 2017's major hurricane tally, study says

By SETH BORENSTEIN them enough to see which
AP Science Writer was bigger.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The He used the computer
Atlantic's warmer waters models to look into the fu-
triggered the unusual num- ture. The Atlantic is project-
ber of major hurricanes last ed to warm faster than the
year, according to a new rest of the world's oceans.
study that predicts the re- That difference is why Mu-
gion could see a couple of rakami said the number of
extra whopper storms each major storms will probably
year by the end of the cen- increase by two or more on
tury. average.
Six major hurricanes — with Some outside experts had
winds of at least 111 mph issues with parts of Muraka-
(178 kph) — spun around mi's study.
the Atlantic last year, in- McNoldy said it makes
cluding Harvey, Irma and sense that the unusual
Maria which hit parts of the warm water was to blame
United States and the Ca- in 2017, but he wasn't quite
ribbean. Since 2000, the At- ready to point the finger at
lantic has averaged three global warming.
major hurricanes a year. "Hurricane seasons don't
Before that the average just keep getting more ac-
was closer to two. This Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017 satellite image made available by NOAA shows the eye of Hurricane tive as the climate warms
It may go up to five to eight Irma, left, just north of the island of Hispaniola, with Hurricane Jose, right, in the Atlantic Ocean. though. There is enormous
major hurricanes a year Six major hurricanes _ with winds of at least 111 mph (178 kph) _ spun around the Atlantic in 2017, variability," McNoldy said in
around the year 2100, ac- including Harvey, Irma and Maria which hit parts of the United States and the Caribbean. an email. Kevin Trenberth
cording to a study in Thurs- Associated Press of the National Center for
day's journal Science . at least 79 degrees (26 de- major storms. That area is aged 0.7 degrees (0.4 de- Atmospheric Research
"We will see more active grees Celsius) for a storm to essentially a large box from grees Celsius) warmer than faulted Murakami's study
hurricane seasons like 2017 form. The warmer the wa- south of Florida and north normal for the entire 2017 for not taking into account
in the future," said lead au- ter, the more it can resist of South America, stretch- season, which is unusual the large increase in ocean
thor Hiro Murakami, climate forces that would cause it ing all the way east to Af- for a six-month time period, heat in deeper areas,
scientist and hurricane ex- to weaken, said University of rica. Murakami said. which he said is also due to
pert at the National Oce- Miami hurricane researcher Some of the strongest At- Murakami's study used climate change.
anic and Atmospheric Ad- Brian McNoldy, who wasn't lantic hurricanes form off computer simulations to Princeton University's Ga-
ministration. part of the study. the coast of West Africa, isolate different climate briel Vecchi said some
So far this year, though, Murakami found that a then chug west toward the conditions. Although his re- computer simulations don't
only one Atlantic hurricane, combination of natural Caribbean and the U.S. search showed both natu- show the Atlantic warming
Florence, has reached ma- conditions and man-made East Coast. ral and human-triggered fastest, so it's not quite as
jor status. climate change made the Water in that large box causes from the burning of certain that there will be
Warm water acts as fuel for waters warmer in one key — the main hurricane de- coal, oil and gas, Murakami more major storms there in
hurricanes. Water has to be area, which caused more velopment region — aver- said he couldn't separate the future.q

Photos from Japanese space

rovers show asteroid is ... rocky

TOKYO (AP) — New pho- jumping robotic rovers that They show slightly tilted
tos taken on the surface of they dropped onto an as- close-ups of the rocky sur-
an asteroid show that it is teroid about 280 million ki- face from different loca-
(drum roll, please) ... rocky. lometers (170 million miles) tions.
It may be no surprise, but away. "I cannot find words to ex-
Japan space agency sci- The Japan Aerospace Ex- press how happy I am that
entists and engineers are ploration Agency posted we were able to realize
thrilled by the images be- the latest photos on its mobile exploration on the
ing sent to Earth by two website late Thursday. surface of an asteroid,"
project manager Yuichi This Sept. 23, 2018 image captured by Rover-1B, and provided
Tsuda said on the space by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows
agency's website. the surface of asteroid Ryugu.
It took more than three Associated Press
years for the unmanned ers onto its surface. lander with four observa-
Hayabusa2 spacecraft to The rovers, each about tion devices onto the as-
reach the vicinity of aster- the size of circular cookie teroid next week.
oid Ryugu. tin, don't have wheels but It later will attempt to land
One week ago, the craft jump around the asteroid. on the asteroid itself to col-
successfully dropped a Hayabusa2 is scheduled lect samples to send back
small capsule with two rov- to drop a German-French to researchers on Earth.q