IIT Kharagpur's recent study on cyclones can analyse the intensity of winds and rains

Climate change may lead to cyclones that can be double the frequency, leading to a wind speed of about 70 m per second 
File photo of IIT Kharagpur | Pic: IIT Kharagpur
File photo of IIT Kharagpur | Pic: IIT Kharagpur

The scientists of IIT Kharagpur and the Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, have discovered a mechanism that will help trace the source that supplied moisture to severe cyclonic storms. The study indicates that the movement of a cyclone through the atmosphere continuously scavenges the existing vapour over the vortex cross-section much like a moving suction pump and provides the first experimental evidence of a theoretical model, a statement from IIT Kharagpur said, quoting Anindya Sarkar, Professor, Department of Geology. "Climate change due to global warming projects that the frequency of category 4 and 5 storms (60 to >70 m/s sustained wind speed) will be doubled by the end of the 21st Century. We studied four such recent severe storms, named Nepartak, Meranti, Malakas and Megi — of category 4/5 — which had devastated Taiwan in the single year of 2016," he said, as reported by PTI. 

Former visiting professor of IIT Kharagpur, Sourendra Bhattacharya, who is also the lead author of the paper, said, “The cyclone, during its journey, keeps shedding enormous amounts of rain, which causes a progressive reduction in the ratio of the isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen in the leftover vapour mass. We tracked this magnitude of reduction, calculated and modelled to see how much rains were scavenged by these moving cyclones,” stated the PTI report.

Prof Mao-Chang Liang of Academia Sinica said, "We placed a mass spectrometer on top of a tall building to continuously measure the isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen in the vapour as these typhoons approached Taiwan. This technique provided us real-time variation inside typhoons every ten minutes as it was raining and vapour compositions changed.” He also added that, “Since both cyclone frequency and intensities are rising due to ongoing climate change, this observation will be very important while studying the tropical cyclones that recurrently hit both India and Taiwan/Japan region. It has also opened up avenues for future collaboration between the two countries," as reported by PTI.

A number of houses were damaged and several casualties were reported in Bangaladesh as Cyclone Sitrang hit the coastal regions of the country on October 25. This was one of the most recent instances of cyclone damage reported. The spokesperson of IIT Kharagpur said that with the help of the model, the cyclones which lash the coastal belts of the region every year can be analysed, including the factors behind the intensity of cyclonic winds and rains.

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