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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Main Authors: P J Vidya, M Ravichandran, R Murtugudde, M P Subeesh, Sourav Chatterjee, S Neetu, M Nuncio
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2020-01-01
Series:Environmental Research Letters
Subjects:
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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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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AT rmurtugudde increasedcyclonedestructionpotentialinthesouthernindianocean
AT mpsubeesh increasedcyclonedestructionpotentialinthesouthernindianocean
AT souravchatterjee increasedcyclonedestructionpotentialinthesouthernindianocean
AT sneetu increasedcyclonedestructionpotentialinthesouthernindianocean
AT mnuncio increasedcyclonedestructionpotentialinthesouthernindianocean