By Stefan Uhlig, Enrique Ortega Gironés & Jose Antonio Sáenz de Santa María Benedet [1]
It is very common to hear in the media that, as a result of climate change, the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events is increasing. One such event is tropical cyclones, which are given different names depending on their geographical distribution: hurricanes in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific, typhoons in the Central and Western Pacific, and cyclones in the Indian Ocean. Figure 1 shows the trajectory followed by the enormous number of tropical cyclones that have occurred in the North Atlantic (since 1851) and the Eastern North Pacific (since 1949).
The film industry has always a particular fondness for making films about disasters, so it comes as no surprise that Netflix has released a series called ‘After the Hurricane’, dedicated to the catastrophe caused by Hurricane Katrina. But is it true, as is often repeated, that the number and intensity of hurricanes on our planet is increasing? Historical climatology provides reliable information on the evolution of these meteorological phenomena, which, although extreme, are not extraordinary, as they are common in many parts of the world.
Continuer la lecture de Netflix and the extreme weather events
