Yes, hurricanes take a LOT of energy to do their thing. But what I think you fail to grasp is that hurricanes do not move north of thier own valition, they are blown by the prevailing winds. As such, if instead of a hurricane we just had the hot humid air that spawned it, the same amount of energy would be transported the same distance (the prevailing wind speed). It is merely a happenstance of nature when this much heat and water gets absorbed a hurricane forms.

I don't see how they could be such a "necessity" because some years there are as many as 20 hurricanes, some years as few as 4, and the ambient temperates remain largely unaffected. I recognize they obviously have a major impact when they occur, but within a week or so equalibrium is usually restored to pre-event conditions. While they obviously move a massive amount of energy, they are dwarfed by the total amount of energy being transported north by other phenomenon.

As for you DirtyGreek, it is his word against mine. How does it constitute an uber-pwnt?

[Edited on September 2, 2005 at 10:00 AM. Reason : .]

9/2/2005 9:59:54 AM

You're failing to realize something major. You just can't blow hot air from south to north and expect it to work. Air moves up and down too. Also Water Vapor. When water is evaporated off of the ocean's surface it rises and makes clouds. These clouds condense and make thunderstorms. The location of these storms make them subject to the prevailing winds that you mention that simply move the storms. The Coriolis Effect is what starts the storms spinning. The energy is in the water vapor, not the wind. What you may be trying to do is simple Hadley Cell convestion up and down motion, but you can't do that in mid latitudes due to the Coriolis forces. So storms spin and are carried along by the trade winds and are directed into the east coast of the US depending on the Bermuda High.

9/2/2005 12:20:40 PM

I didn't say "storms" served no purpose. They serve a major purpose dispelling heat from the atmosphere. But Hurricanes constitute a small percentage of storms, merely the most extreme.

I can't believe you have me arguing hurricanes are unnecessary. It doesn't matter, our geography and the laws of physics are such that we have them regardless of their worth to the planet.

9/2/2005 12:46:44 PM

Quote :

"LoneSnark: I didn't say "storms" served no purpose"

Quote :

"LoneSnark:Because I know of no scientific reason why the Earth NEEDS giant spiralling collections of fast moving air."

Newsflash! Hurricanes ARE storms. They begin as simple convective thunderstorms and combine to form hurricanes.You're right, you do know of no scientific reason why they form, but maybe you should take MEA 130 and 135 so you don't look stupid anymore.

Quote :

"Sure, thunderstorms help cool the planet, but huricanes are whole other beast."

Whole other beast as in they cool off the planet faster and more efficiently.
An averge hurricane,
Energy from the rain: 6.0 x 10^14 Watts
Energy from the wind: 1.5 x 10^12 Watts
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/D7.html

So obviously there is more energy available then the what you call "normal processes" can move.

9/2/2005 1:11:47 PM

Here, I'll make it easy for you. Just stick to simple LoneSnark understandings of the weather illustrated here:


And let the big boys play with real weather as illustrated here:

9/2/2005 1:20:56 PM

That sun needs a happy face.

9/2/2005 3:08:23 PM

Quote :

"So obviously there is more energy available then the what you call "normal processes" can move."

Right, so your saying in years that there were only four hurricanes as opposed to most years where there are 10 to 20, the Earth should have gone to shit, because my "normal processes" obviously couldn't cope, so agriculture and everyone consuming it MUST have died, right?

9/2/2005 3:18:32 PM

Insolation is not constant. You're also negating ENSO. Upper level winds can be stronger at one time than another. Do I have to keep holding your hand through this?

9/2/2005 3:23:56 PM

Not to mention there are many biological processes that hurricanes cause that are now a neccessary part of the system of life in the ocean.

9/8/2005 12:47:26 PM