Hi Steemians,
You might say that I am crazy on why I have a subject line or a title like that. My mother had me tested(and no, I'm not.) I'm just an academic who favors more on nature. Anyway, I have nothing against humanity if it ever hit a nerve or something.
Here, I'm going to discuss one of natures' wrath and natural phenomenon: storms.
Storms go in different terms. They might be called differently depending on the location. A storm generated from the Atlantic Ocean is called a hurricane. A typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean and a cyclone is in the south Pacific or Indian Ocean,
HOW STORMS ARE FORMED?
(1)Storms start off as tropical thunderstorms. The strong winds pull in moisture from the oceans.
(2)The thunderstorms convert the moisture into heat. The heat causes more air to flow to the center of the storm causing evaporation.
(3)All the heat and air flow toward the eye creating the storm.
WHAT WE KNOW
Majority of the people see storms as destruction. They loath this natural occurrence. They think of them as nature's method to eradicate every property and life in its path. Indeed, many lives were lost because of these storms. Millions of dollars worth of buildings and infrastructure were also destroyed. These storms destroyed families and their agriculture.
I also experienced the wrath of a super-typhoon first hand. This was when typhoon Haiyan, known as Super Typhoon "Yolanda" hit the Philippines. On its landfall, our country experienced the deadliest typhoon on record. In our place, it took more than 3 months to get the power back. I saw flying branches, twigs, GI sheets and debris. Damage was everywhere. Trees were uprooted and houses were completely demolished.
WHAT WE DON'T KNOW
Yes, storms have benefits. There are actually a number of them. These benefits may not be directly related to men's perspective. Here are what I found noticeable.
(1) Rainfall = Water
Storms are extremely efficient at rainfall production, and thus, can also be efficient drought busters. In areas of drought, rain from a tropical cyclone can be beneficial. Moisture from decaying tropical cyclones in the eastern Pacific occasionally gets caught up in the west-to-east flow of the United States and reaches the deserts. California and much of the Desert Southwest are desperate for rain, so an influx of moisture from a tropical system could be good news for that region.
(2) Red Tide and Bacteria Break-up
As tropical cyclones move across the ocean, winds and waves toss the water's contents. This mixing breaks up patches of bacteria that lurk in the water and can bring an earlier end to the red tide. Winds can also oxygenate the near surface waters, helping return life to areas where the red tide once existed.
(3) Global Heat Balance
One of the main purposes for hurricanes around the globe is a temperature balance between the poles and the equator. This imbalance of temperatures will always exist due to the orientation of the polar axis of our planet. Earth’s equator receives more solar energy, called insolation, than any other latitude on a yearly average. This insolation warms the ocean temperature, which in turn warms the air above it and keeps it warmer long into the autumn.
The Earth is always trying to spread this warm wealth around the world, and hurricanes are one of the ways this is done. Mid-latitude storm systems and oceanic currents are others.
Hurricanes, due to their size and interactions with the upper levels of the atmosphere, are very efficient movers of equatorial heat.
The equator would be considerably warmer and the poles could be significantly cooler if tropical cyclones did not exist.
Hurricanes produce very heavy rainfall far from land. After the storm passed, it left cooler water behind.
This oceanic heat is not simply extinguished after being removed from the ocean – it is slowly wrung out in thunderstorms as hurricanes move poleward. The cold water left behind in hurricanes can weaken new hurricanes that pass over that same area.
(4) Barrier Islands Replenishment
Although most images we see of barrier islands after hurricanes show beaten-up swaths of land, barrier islands often get replenished as a hurricane moves through.
Hurricanes have the power to pick up substantial amounts of sand, nutrients and sediment on the ocean’s bottom and bring it toward those barrier islands. Storm surge, wind and waves will often move these islands closer to the mainland as sand is pushed or pulled in that direction.
Without tropical cyclones or artificial restoration, barrier islands would eventually shrink and sink into the ocean.
(5) Inland Plant Life Replenishment
What isn’t blown around on the ground during a hurricane can sometimes be carried hundreds of miles downstream.
As hurricanes make landfall, their wind blows seeds and spres further inland from where they would normally fall. These seeds can replenish lost growth after fires and urbanization.
Tropical systems often thin out tree foliage, which can be beneficial in firefighting efforts. The act of pruning trees as to mitigate damage can also help.
One study said that the loss of foliage in hurricanes and other natural disasters aids long-distance seed dispersal.
Fresh nutrients and sediment brought in by hurricanes can spawn growth spurts in new plant life, which can later lead to upticks in animal life.
Everything indeed has a purpose.
References:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/explainer-how-are-typhoons-formed/article15373372/
https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/hurricane-landfall-benefits-2016
http://www.capmel.com/5-things-hurricanes-can-do-that-are-actually-good/