Could There Eventually Be a Revised Hurricane Intensity Scale? (credit: American Geophysical Union)

DISCUSSION: In light of a gradually warming planet, there is a globally increasing concern that there could be an issue related to gradually increasing tropical cyclone intensity.  This is chiefly due to the fact that as the Earth continues to experience amplified net warming over time due to an increasingly more amplified greenhouse effect, this will consequently catalyze greater global oceanic warming.  The reason for this is due to the fact that well over half (50%) of the world's heat is stored in the world's oceans.  Therefore, with warmer ocean's, this results in a corresponding increase in the magnitude of warmer upper-ocean heat energy which is made available on a seasonal basis to developing tropical storms.

Therefore, one of the growing concerns is that (even with all other atmospheric factors being equal such as the Coriolis force which helps dictate at what latitudinal positions tropical storms can form at) with a gradually warming planet, there would be increasing amounts of low/mid-level water vapor present.  Thus, with warmer oceans, there is an inherently greater threat for potentially stronger tropical cyclones in the coming years and decades to come.  Hence, it will be interesting to see if atmospheric researchers eventually make a more conscious effort to look into whether it would be advantageous to establish a slightly different (possibly with an increased intensity category) hurricane intensity scale to compensate for these factors.  For the time being, the global atmospheric science community is in fairly solid agreement that the current Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Intensity Scale will likely continue to be the way to go as it has worked for the global scientific and non-scientific communities alike up to this point.

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© 2018 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz