IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v7y2016i1d10.1038_ncomms13670.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Global warming-induced upper-ocean freshening and the intensification of super typhoons

Author

Listed:
  • Karthik Balaguru

    (Marine Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

  • Gregory R. Foltz

    (Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, NOAA)

  • L. Ruby Leung

    (Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

  • Kerry A. Emanuel

    (Lorenz Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Abstract

Super typhoons (STYs), intense tropical cyclones of the western North Pacific, rank among the most destructive natural hazards globally. The violent winds of these storms induce deep mixing of the upper ocean, resulting in strong sea surface cooling and making STYs highly sensitive to ocean density stratification. Although a few studies examined the potential impacts of changes in ocean thermal structure on future tropical cyclones, they did not take into account changes in near-surface salinity. Here, using a combination of observations and coupled climate model simulations, we show that freshening of the upper ocean, caused by greater rainfall in places where typhoons form, tends to intensify STYs by reducing their ability to cool the upper ocean. We further demonstrate that the strengthening effect of this freshening over the period 1961–2008 is ∼53% stronger than the suppressive effect of temperature, whereas under twenty-first century projections, the positive effect of salinity is about half of the negative effect of ocean temperature changes.

Suggested Citation

  • Karthik Balaguru & Gregory R. Foltz & L. Ruby Leung & Kerry A. Emanuel, 2016. "Global warming-induced upper-ocean freshening and the intensification of super typhoons," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms13670
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13670
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms13670
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms13670?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shuqi Wu & Shisong Cao & Zhiheng Wang & Xinyuan Qu & Shanfei Li & Wenji Zhao, 2019. "Spatiotemporal Variations in Agricultural Flooding in Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River from 1970 to 2018," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-20, November.
    2. Kuhla, Kilian & Willner, Sven N & Otto, Christian & Levermann, Anders, 2023. "Resilience of international trade to typhoon-related supply disruptions," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    3. Xuelu Cai & Mark Henderson & Ligang Wang & Yuanhang Su & Binhui Liu, 2021. "Shelterbelt Structure and Crop Protection from Increased Typhoon Activity in Northeast China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-13, October.
    4. Cherryl Chico & Zhaowen Wang & Ed Kieran C. Reyes & Mahinthan J. Mariasingham, 2024. "AIS-Based Framework for Analyzing the Impacts of Passageway Disruptions," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 489-511, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms13670. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.