Hurricanes, tornadoes and sea level rise

 Further to our explorations in AI here and to the previous post here, this is a 'conversation' with Copilot, Microsoft Bing's AI extension. Conversation means that you can daisy-chain questions without repeating them, either to extend or to zero in:

Q: Difference between hurricane and tornadoe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado

A: Hurricanes and tornadoes are both powerful weather phenomena, but they have some key differences:

Formation and Location

- Hurricanes form over warm ocean waters, typically near the equator. They require a pre-existing weather disturbance, warm tropical oceans, moisture, and relatively light winds¹.

- Tornadoes form over land, usually from severe thunderstorms. They often occur in areas with high wind shear, where there is a significant change in wind speed and direction with height².

Size and Duration

- Hurricanes are much larger, with diameters ranging from 100 to 2,000 kilometers (up to 1,000 miles). They can last from several days to a few weeks².

- Tornadoes are smaller, typically less than 2 miles wide, and usually last only a few minutes to a couple of hours².

Wind Speed

- Hurricanes generally have wind speeds less than 180 mph².

- Tornadoes can have wind speeds up to 300 mph, making them more intense in terms of wind speed over a smaller area².

Impact and Damage

- Hurricanes cause widespread damage due to their size and the heavy rainfall, storm surges, and flooding they bring¹.

- Tornadoes cause localized damage along their narrow path, but the destruction can be severe due to their high wind speeds².

Both hurricanes and tornadoes are dangerous and can cause significant damage, but understanding their differences can help in preparing for and responding to these natural disasters.

Is there anything specific you would like to know more about regarding hurricanes or tornadoes?

Source: Conversation with Copilot, 12/10/2024

(1) What is the difference between a tornado and a hurricane? https://gpm.nasa.gov/resources/faq/what-difference-between-tornado-and-hurricane

(2) Hurricane vs Tornado – The Similarities and Differences. https://sciencenotes.org/hurricane-vs-tornado-the-similarities-and-differences/

(3) Cyclone vs. Typhoon vs. Hurricane: Are They All The Same? https://www.dictionary.com/e/typhoons-hurricanes-cyclones/

(4) Hurricane vs. Tornado: What's the Difference? https://www.difference.wiki/hurricane-vs-tornado/

(5) What's the difference between a hurricane and a tornado? - NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/what-s-difference-between-hurricane-tornado-ncna1011676

(6) Getty Images. https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/tornado-struck-on-agricultural-fields-at-sunset-royalty-free-image/671793326

Q: Is there a reletionship between them

A: Yes, there is a relationship between hurricanes and tornadoes, although they are distinct phenomena. Here are some key points:

Tornadoes Within Hurricanes

- Tornadoes can form within hurricanes. When a hurricane makes landfall, the interaction with the land can create conditions favorable for tornado formation, especially in the outer rainbands of the hurricane².

Shared Atmospheric Conditions

 Both hurricanes and tornadoes are driven by **convective energy**, which involves the rising of warm, moist air². This shared mechanism means that both types of storms can occur under similar atmospheric conditions, although the specifics differ.

Differences in Formation and Behavior

- Hurricanes require warm ocean waters and form over these waters, while tornadoes typically form over land from severe thunderstorms².

- Hurricanes are large-scale systems that can last for days or weeks, whereas tornadoes are much smaller and usually last for minutes to a few hours².

Impact of Wind Shear

- Wind shear plays a crucial role in the formation of both hurricanes and tornadoes. However, hurricanes thrive in environments with low vertical wind shear, while tornadoes often form in areas with high wind shear⁴.

Understanding these relationships helps meteorologists predict and prepare for the potential impacts of these powerful storms. If you have any more questions or need further details, feel free to ask!

Source: Conversation with Copilot, 12/10/2024

(1) Hurricane vs Tornado – The Similarities and Differences. https://sciencenotes.org/hurricane-vs-tornado-the-similarities-and-differences/

(2) Hurricanes: Science and Society: Tornadoes. https://www.hurricanescience.org/society/impacts/tornadoes/

(3) Are hurricanes like giant tornadoes? Why their damage is so different. https://www.theweathernetwork.com/en/news/science/explainers/tornadoes-versus-hurricanes-why-their-damage-is-so-different

(4) Tornado Vs. Hurricane: What’s The Difference? - Techiescientist. https://techiescientist.com/tornado-vs-hurricane/

(5) How do tornadoes and hurricanes compare? - University of Miami. https://news.miami.edu/stories/2019/03/how-do-tornadoes-and-hurricanes-compare.html

Q: Is there a relationship with Sea Level Rise?

A: Yes, there is a relationship between sea level rise and hurricanes, and to a lesser extent, tornadoes. Here are some key points:

Hurricanes and Sea Level Rise

- Increased Coastal Flooding: As sea levels rise, the impact of storm surges from hurricanes becomes more severe. Higher sea levels mean that storm surges can push further inland, causing more extensive flooding¹⁴.

- Intensified Storms: Warmer sea surface temperatures, which contribute to sea level rise, can also lead to more intense hurricanes. These warmer waters provide more energy for hurricanes, potentially increasing their intensity and the amount of rainfall they produce³.

Tornadoes and Sea Level Rise

- Indirect Relationship: While sea level rise does not directly cause tornadoes, the conditions that lead to more intense hurricanes (such as warmer sea surface temperatures) can also create environments conducive to tornado formation within hurricanes⁵.

Overall Impact

- Increased Risk: The combination of higher sea levels and more intense storms means that coastal areas are at greater risk of severe weather events. This can lead to more significant damage and higher costs for recovery and rebuilding¹⁴.

Understanding these relationships helps in preparing for and mitigating the impacts of these powerful storms. If you have more questions or need further details, feel free to ask!

Source: Conversation with Copilot, 12/10/2024

(1) Global Warming and Hurricanes - Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. https://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/global-warming-and-hurricanes/

(2) Sea Level Rise - MIT Climate Portal. https://climate.mit.edu/explainers/sea-level-rise

(3) A Force of Nature: Hurricanes in a Changing Climate. https://science.nasa.gov/earth/climate-change/a-force-of-nature-hurricanes-in-a-changing-climate/

(4) Hurricane Milton: Why do tornadoes form within hurricanes? - The Hill. https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4927302-hurricane-milton-tornadoes-climate-change/

(5) Chapter 11: Weather and Climate Extreme Events in a Changing Climate - IPCC. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/chapter/chapter-11/

Global sea level rise revisited

Update: so follow-on here with definions and relationsips among these topics

I posted here 3 yrs. ago among a series of DIY map notes to encourage Citizen Science, how to use NOAA global digital elevation data to model sea level rise data on straight geometry. See also here for an explanation referring to East Anglia. Here is what it looks like from the DIY document:

Global harmonization of climate & temperature data since 1850

Update: a post in SciTech Daily shows that ocean  atmospheric science - shown in this and previous post - is alive and may help with assessing climate change: it's about the doldrums driven by downdrafts not updrafts; at a localized scale, downdrafts  were dramatically reported in passenger flight incidents here or the sinking off Sicily of a superyacht here, and updrafts in increasing mid-Atlantic hurricane generation here. 

A return to my roots

Updates: mapping climate data from historic ships & global harmonization follow respectively here & here.

 "You can get Andrew outa maps, but you can't get maps outa Andrew" quipped a GIS map friend when I left Kuwait a dozen years ago... Well after quitting socials, Esri(UK) graciously helped me recover my desktop app. While I lost my story maps and web maps content, I maintained a free dev account - story maps and maps&data - this was chiefly to preserve my Living Atlas content inspired by John Nelson. 

Community engagement and social prescribing

 This follows an update on this blog here.

We recently rebranded Cottenham.info to Cambridgeshire.ai: the domain name is acquired but page not done yet finished; we have a prospectus as an evergreen document, meaning ever evolving.

Our community involvement over 5 years in March is one object of this blog starting  here (follow the links) and listed here. We engaged with various community interest  parties at the impact of climate change then the pandemic on social isolation in East Anglia.

"So long and thanks for the maps", Part IV

 Over 1½ yrs. ago Part I said that I left socials and geo work... well not quite! I did quit all activism and will soon return to my family home in France left almost 50 yrs. ago.

I left now by entering the 2023 Story Map competition with "a story about conserving Earth’s lands and waters": East Anglia Fenlands: Peatlands Restoration to mitigate Climate Change sums up my work in East Anglia under Cottenham Open - introduced here 4½ years ago as Local community engagement - you can follow my professional portfolio either at top right of my blog home in desktop mode, or my story map direct. 

Cottenham Open CIC rebooted

Community Engagement  1, ... 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 & 21

Update: the next post (here) will show how a blog post on creating maps, is created by generating prompts  using Bing AI in a Udemy course on prompt engineering following STAR (style-task-audience-role).

Re-engaging après-COVID what is in LinkedIn, below & Esri Hub: Part 1 outlined Community Engagement. Part 2 built a story introducing the community. Part 3 tied together community maps and climate mapping. Part 4 introduced a process framework for this community engagement. Part 5 expanded on our aim toward a community engagement.  Part 6 added our own Wikipedia Gazetteer as we build up the local landscape. Part 7 showed a draft Press Release introducing our social enterprise. Part 8 on coastal inundation scenarios adds some parameters in the debate. Part 9 on temperature anomaly scenarios further constrains the debate. Part 10 followed up village engagement process via recent Parish Council update. Part 11 added flood risks to coastal inundation and temperature regime models. Part 12 described Cambridgeshire Parishes affected by sea level rise. And finally here we introduce AI with a local twist.

Sea Level Rise update

The last post before peatlands (recent update here) was the East Anglia flood protection infrastructure here - both used extensive Environment Agency data, publicly available if needing some (at time extensive) work as described therein. Here are further DIY resources to create maps like this fun pirate map of East Anglia under 12 m. water est. around 2150AD (from here updated here):

Community, climate and maps - an update

Update: see a follow-on post to sea level rise in East Anglia here.

 This is a follow on to this post: lets address one of the update items, Fire & Ice, in the light of an early and vicious start  to the Canadian fire season. The question is: notwithstanding this year's events, is there an increase in fires and if so, can they be related to climate change as, say, in California?

A brief history of mine

Update: a duo of posts on my Medium professional channel here relates my early computing.

As I go through a 'hard reset' in my life and am exiting social media by&large, this may be a good time to pause and reflect on my IT journey.

More fun with Maps

Although I have not seen Avatar: The way of Water, it brought back images of  Waterworld... 2¾ decades ago! I was told on socials "... did [Avatar 2 director] James Cameron commission this map of yours to depict a much waterier world? 😉". That reminded me I should pull out again one of my favorites I put as my twitter page banner.

"So long and thanks for the maps"

"So long and thanks for all the fish, I meant maps (apologies to Douglas Adams)" was the last post in my #30DayMapChallenge reported below, not incl. an extra one at the end. As my life situation has changed, however, this proved to be prophetic: I'm withdrawing from social media, activism and geo work until I sort my life out. It’s been a pleasure participating in mappy adventures with y’all. Ta for now.

Satellite data help for local housing issue

 The #30DayMapChallenge Day 23 challenge is "GHSL data", here is the section in the story map that will chronicle the map challenge when it's finished:

Global Human Settlement  for Northstowe controversial development NW of Cambridge UK, monitoring housing probability (GHS-BUILT-S2, 2018) and housing footprint (GHSL-ESM, 2015) against Esri 2020 Land Cover map extract with OpenStreetMap detailed base-map. Various blended overlays 'bake' the layers into a screen pattern allowing to compare and contrast past built areas vs. currently probably built against submissions. 

Return East Anglia Peatlands to being carbon sinks

Community Engagement  1, ... 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 & 20

[ Update 5: Community Interest Company re-engagement is here

Update 4: actual Fenlanders interviewed in this fab blog post

Update 3: peatland restoration by numbers, Indonesian example

Update 2: soil degradation and climate change masterclass, TEDtalk pointers

Update: added Why we should all be obsessed with Peatlands at the end of the story map below ]

No. 20! Isn't it fitting that chronicling East Anglia challenges & opportunities w.r.t. climate emergency - risk of flooding, sea level rise,  vulnerability indices and now pandemic - uncovered the greatest opportunity yet: returning local peatlands from carbon emitters to original carbon sinks could dwarf any individual effort to mitigate CO2 emissions, currently the major driver of climate change.

Sea Level Rise Maps #reloaded

[ Update 2: at bottom is the comprehensive water web map that followed this...

Update 1: near the end of the story map, see how you can style your own DEM tiles ]

 East Anglia Flood Defences Final showcased in a story map the entire flooding infrastructure framework for the region, both from rising sea levels and risk of flooding, complete w flood defence infrastructure.

Online discussions in the wake of the IPCC 2021 report broadened that scope back to an original posting almost two years ago Sea level rise models show ins&outs of climate change science. Here is that update expanding to England and NW Europe, wrapping in all the lessons learned along the way. 

"With a little help from my friends", Part II

New how-to 

Part I showed how a map of DEFRA open data can help situational awareness for a West Midlands XR event. Having done a sea level rise and risk of flooding map for the Thames River valley near London last year, I redid one now with the lessons learned in the interval. The previous Sea Level Rise map from Open Data was rather onerous: I streamlined the process to simply load free & open data with only GIS styling; the resulting Build your own can be replicated on other GIS with listed data sources.

Land cover to study East Anglia peatlands evolution

Community Engagement  1, ... 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 & 19

[ Update 3: next installment integrates this + companion below in peatland assessment

Update 2: see next how to re-use, clip & correct Natural England's Natural Capital Atlas

Update 1: added Living Atlas, ESA & USGS land cover and Natural England peat lands ]

Having concluded a comprehensive synopsis on risk of flooding and sea level rise, an opportunity arose to look at land cover classification with the data below and two peat land experts who will help with this.

"With a little help from my friends"

[ Update:  Part II re-uses this and improves the manual for a London area action ]

Part of our mandate at cottenham.info is to raise awareness around climate change issues in East Anglia. A key part is to quantify risks around flooding from land during increasingly variable weather, as well as to predict what sea level rise would look like over time from melting polar ice caps. That combines respectively excellent ground work by DEFRA - see their Future Fens twitter feed - and modelling against topography by Ordnance Survey and DEFRA. And timing of sea level rises is an emotional issue: to balance the reality of the risk with questions around time scales (see comment), will help raise awareness without unduly raising alarm.

East Anglia Flood Defences Final

Community Engagement  1, ... 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 & 18

[ Update: see post #19 on an opportunity to use land cover information to study peat lands ] 

This extends the previous flood defences update into a 3D interactive map. It also explains the DEFRA flood defences data update, in order to map the infrastructure complete with various sea level rise elevations. [Story map full-page here.]

East Anglia Flood Defences Update

Community Engagement  1, ... 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 & 17

[ Update: the next blogpost extends this into a 3d interactive map wrapping up this 2 years study ]

This closes the trio of updates on sea level rise timelines and infrastructure based on newly available climate change data, since this project started two years ago. 

Environment Agency's DEFRA not only manages a comprehensive Risk of Flooding for River and from Sea via ground observations and mapping, but it also manages all the infrastructure related to flood risks from the same. 

Let's extend our ongoing mapping effort here to include AIMS Spatial Flood Defences (inc. standardised attributes):