The Oceans Are Getting Hotter and That’s Not
You know climate change is real, said University of St. Thomas School of Engineering Professor John Abraham, when you see the intensity at which wildfires raged in Australia, across parts of the Amazon region, and even in the
who was among 20 scientists from 13 institutes around the world to contribute to a new climate change study published Jan. 13 in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences. The research has been published in media outlets around the world, including in Science Magazine, The Guardian and MSN. “Powerful storms are increasing in frequency around the globe. Record numbers of typhoons made landfall in Vietnam after blasting the Philippines, and Fiji was devastated by a Category 5 hurricane in 2020,” Abraham said. The integrating effect of the oceans makes the storms more powerful and disrupts rainfall patterns, which lead to floods, droughts and wildfires. And death. “Climate change is literally killing people and we are not doing enough to stop it,” said Abraham, who hopes that the research he and his colleagues are tracking about record-setting warming of the oceans will bring enhanced focus to this global issue that he stressed has “profound effects on the environment and society.”
By SHEREE CURRY
School of Engineering Professor John Abraham
western United States during 2020. Extreme fires will become even more common in the future. And then there are the oceans. They are the ones to watch. They reached their hottest level ever last year, fanning the flames and fueling the storms. “Warmer oceans make storms more powerful, particularly hurricanes and typhoons,” said Abraham,
teaches a class pre-pandemic in the John R. Roach Center for the Liberal Arts auditorium.
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