Increased cyclone destruction potential in the Southern Indian Ocean
The present study examines the role of the Southern Indian Ocean (SIO) warming on the cyclone destruction potential or Power Dissipation Index (PDI) during two contrasting periods of 1980–1998 and 1999–2016. The PDI in the SIO during 1999–2016 is found to have doubled compared to the same during 198...
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IOP Publishing
2020-01-01
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Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abceed |
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author | P J Vidya M Ravichandran R Murtugudde M P Subeesh Sourav Chatterjee S Neetu M Nuncio |
author_facet | P J Vidya M Ravichandran R Murtugudde M P Subeesh Sourav Chatterjee S Neetu M Nuncio |
author_sort | P J Vidya |
collection | DOAJ |
description | The present study examines the role of the Southern Indian Ocean (SIO) warming on the cyclone destruction potential or Power Dissipation Index (PDI) during two contrasting periods of 1980–1998 and 1999–2016. The PDI in the SIO during 1999–2016 is found to have doubled compared to the same during 1980–1998. PDI was computed using the tropical cyclone track data in the SIO region for cyclone category three and above. The increasing trend in PDI during the latter period is primarily due to an increase in the intensity of cyclones and their duration. The increasing PDI is associated with a sea surface temperature warming and an upper ocean heat content increase as well as a significant slowdown in translation speeds. The increase in upper ocean heat content during the recent decades enhances the intensification of cyclones and their duration, which is consistent with the slowdown of cyclones. Analysis of the relevant atmospheric parameters indicates that processes in the atmosphere did not play a major role in the recent decades in increasing cyclone intensity. We show that in the SIO, ocean processes play a major role in the PDI rise during the recent period. Any continued increase in PDI will cause more loss of life and socioeconomic damage to the island countries such as Mozambique, Mauritius, Mascarene Islands and Madagascar, as well as the coastal inhabitants along East Africa. |
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issn | 1748-9326 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:58:12Z |
publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
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series | Environmental Research Letters |
spelling | doaj.art-f9f8b5bd588d40409df0c4a5a95e46fb2023-08-09T14:51:29ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262020-01-0116101402710.1088/1748-9326/abceedIncreased cyclone destruction potential in the Southern Indian OceanP J Vidya0M Ravichandran1R Murtugudde2M P Subeesh3Sourav Chatterjee4S Neetu5M Nuncio6National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Ministry of Earth Sciences , Vasco-da-Gama, Goa 403 804, IndiaNational Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Ministry of Earth Sciences , Vasco-da-Gama, Goa 403 804, IndiaInterdisciplinary Programme in Climate Studies, Indian Institute of Technology , Bombay, India; ESSIC, University of Maryland , College Park, MD, United States of AmericaNational Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Ministry of Earth Sciences , Vasco-da-Gama, Goa 403 804, IndiaNational Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Ministry of Earth Sciences , Vasco-da-Gama, Goa 403 804, IndiaCSIR-National Institute of Oceanography , Dona Paula, Goa 403004, IndiaNational Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Ministry of Earth Sciences , Vasco-da-Gama, Goa 403 804, IndiaThe present study examines the role of the Southern Indian Ocean (SIO) warming on the cyclone destruction potential or Power Dissipation Index (PDI) during two contrasting periods of 1980–1998 and 1999–2016. The PDI in the SIO during 1999–2016 is found to have doubled compared to the same during 1980–1998. PDI was computed using the tropical cyclone track data in the SIO region for cyclone category three and above. The increasing trend in PDI during the latter period is primarily due to an increase in the intensity of cyclones and their duration. The increasing PDI is associated with a sea surface temperature warming and an upper ocean heat content increase as well as a significant slowdown in translation speeds. The increase in upper ocean heat content during the recent decades enhances the intensification of cyclones and their duration, which is consistent with the slowdown of cyclones. Analysis of the relevant atmospheric parameters indicates that processes in the atmosphere did not play a major role in the recent decades in increasing cyclone intensity. We show that in the SIO, ocean processes play a major role in the PDI rise during the recent period. Any continued increase in PDI will cause more loss of life and socioeconomic damage to the island countries such as Mozambique, Mauritius, Mascarene Islands and Madagascar, as well as the coastal inhabitants along East Africa.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abceedSouthern Indian OceanPower Dissipation Indextropical cyclonesslowdown of cyclonessea surface temperature |
spellingShingle | P J Vidya M Ravichandran R Murtugudde M P Subeesh Sourav Chatterjee S Neetu M Nuncio Increased cyclone destruction potential in the Southern Indian Ocean Environmental Research Letters Southern Indian Ocean Power Dissipation Index tropical cyclones slowdown of cyclones sea surface temperature |
title | Increased cyclone destruction potential in the Southern Indian Ocean |
title_full | Increased cyclone destruction potential in the Southern Indian Ocean |
title_fullStr | Increased cyclone destruction potential in the Southern Indian Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed | Increased cyclone destruction potential in the Southern Indian Ocean |
title_short | Increased cyclone destruction potential in the Southern Indian Ocean |
title_sort | increased cyclone destruction potential in the southern indian ocean |
topic | Southern Indian Ocean Power Dissipation Index tropical cyclones slowdown of cyclones sea surface temperature |
url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abceed |
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