To know me is to know that I love the oceans and that it doesn’t take much to get me talking about them. 🤓
One of the things that I love about the oceans is their magnificence. Consider that a cubic meter of water can heat a cubic km of air (and visa versa) and behold, with a fresh awareness, the many cubic meters of water within an ocean that acts as a magnificent container for atmospheric heat. Ocean circulation has done for us what we have failed to do for ourselves; it has reduced the heat in the atmosphere from the energy-hungry and heat-generous molecules, known as greenhouse gases, that we have contributed. Â This service might be considered a very kind gesture if it weren’t for the fact the oceans could care less about us than we do (and that’s saying something!).
Fast forward to many decades of this generosity, add a sprinkle of planetary dynamics, et voila! We have a perfect marriage of anomalously high ocean heat and hungry storms that like to feed off this heat. When there is cooler water below the sea surface, these storms will naturally mix that cooler water up to the surface and shoot themselves in the foot…or…better yet…the eye! But…dang it…what happens when the water below the surface has also warmed? Oceanic gun control is a mother f-er when you want the ocean’s help to shoot a hurricane in the eye.
I’m no hurricane-studying oceanographer, and I’m connecting dots here with my oceanic gun control story that might make a hurricane-studying oceanographer’s eyes roll. Â My finger isn’t enough on the pulse of direct sources of information to know if my story applies to this particular storm; so take it with a grain of sea salt. Rest assured, though, that the “they” who are “controlling” the weather is the “us” who have let the oceans do our job of cleaning up after ourselves…and we aren’t even controlling the weather as much as relinquishing control and giving it up to complex dynamics that we are still learning about. Â It’s worth considering that we might not want to give the job of reducing our footprint of heat in the atmosphere to an entity that doesn’t care a drop about us.
Just sayin’….Â
Here are some references in case you want to geek out a little with me. I present you with Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Sea Surface Anomalies from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and a missive from a wee, little Nature journal (sarcasm!) that explains: “Approximately 70% of hurricanes that formed between 1950 and 2022 were influenced by marine heatwaves. Notably, rapid intensification is, on average, 50% more likely during marine heatwaves. As marine heatwaves are on the increase due to climate change, our findings indicate that more frequent rapid intensification events can be expected in the warming climate.“
Sorry, Florida. Hope you all stay safe through Milton. I’d say that we didn’t know better about our actions increasing this risk of catastrophic hurricanes, but we have actually known for years that we’ve been increasing this risk. As we explain to our teenagers: engaging in risky behavior is all fun and games until someone gets hurt. Hopefully, you won’t get too hurt this time, Florida peeps. Â We are wishing you all safe passage! Â On the flip side, can we work toward strengthening our cultural pre-frontal cortex and shifting toward more stability-enhancing behaviors? Â Until then…buckle up! It’s going to be a wild ride. Â
p.s. Â While I’m asking questions, can we please stop burning 112 million gallons of fuel just to rocket up to space for fun so that, 112 million gallons at a time, we can individually have an epiphany that human-induced global warming is worth addressing? Â It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt. Â Prefrontal cortex, people! Â We can do this!
p.p.s. Â The contents of this page (except for the screen capture) is copyright (2024) by Rachael D. Mueller. Â All rights reserved.
References:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01578-2
https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/regsatprod/gom/sst_anm.php