Hurricanes What Causes Hurricanes What is the Effect

Hurricanes! What Causes Hurricanes? What is the Effect of Hurricanes? How Can We Prevent Them? By Sarah Woodard

What are Hurricanes? • Hurricanes are windstorms accompanied by heavy rain storms – Wind blows at least 74 miles per hour! • Hurricanes can appear in the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico. • Hurricanes rotate counter-clockwise around an “eye” – The “eye” of a hurricane is a calm spot in the middle of the strong winds and torrential downpour of rain – Source: FEMA for Kids: Hurricanes

What Causes Hurricanes? • Hurricanes happen when warm sea water interacts with warm air above it. • Differences in pressure cause water evaporating off of the ocean to spiral into a tornado shape. – The eye of the hurricane is where the air is warmest. • The water releases energy, which causes more water to evaporate, which increase the amount of rain and makes the wind move faster and faster. • When hurricanes travel over cooler water, they eventually lose energy and the air calms down again. – Source: Weather Questions about Hurricanes

What are the Effects of Hurricanes? • When hurricanes travel over land, they can destroy anything in their path. • Rain from the hurricane can flood land destroy property • Winds can knock down trees and power lines, causing major problems in cities and states.

What Can We Do to Stop Hurricanes? • Warm air and water are the causes of hurricanes. • Increasing air and water temperatures from global warming may increase the chances of a hurricane forming. • By working on reducing pollution around the world, we can possibly lower air and water temperatures. • One thing we could do to lower air pollution is ride our bikes to and from places so that we don’t have to use our cars because cars produce a lot of air pollution.