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Monster hurricanes struck U.S. Northeast during prehistoric periods of ocean warming
(Please note: NSF press release. No copyright concerns.)
https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=134130
[font face=Serif]Press Release 15-012
[font size=5]Monster hurricanes struck U.S. Northeast during prehistoric periods of ocean warming[/font]
[font size=4]Scientists find clues in sediment deposits on Cape Cod[/font]
February 11, 2015
[font size=3]Intense hurricanes possibly more powerful than any storms New England has experienced in recorded history frequently pounded the region during the first millennium, from the peak of the Roman Empire to the height of the Middle Ages, according to results of a new study.
The finding could have implications for understanding the intensity and frequency of hurricanes the U.S. Northeast may experience in the future.
Looking back to see into the future
A record of sediment deposits from Cape Cod, Mass., shows evidence that 23 severe hurricanes hit New England between the years 250 and 1150, the equivalent of a severe storm about once every 40 years on average.
Many of these hurricanes were likely more intense than any that have hit the area in recorded history.
"The ability to produce and synthesize thousands of years of data on hurricane paths and frequencies is revolutionizing our understanding of what controls where and how often these dangerous storms make landfall," said Candace Major, program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Ocean Sciences, which funded the research.
The prehistoric hurricanes were likely category 3 storms (such as Hurricane Katrina) or category 4 storms (Hurricane Hugo) that would be catastrophic if they hit the region today, according to Jeff Donnelly, a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, and lead author of a paper on the results published online today in Earth's Future, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.
…[/font][/font]
[font size=5]Monster hurricanes struck U.S. Northeast during prehistoric periods of ocean warming[/font]
[font size=4]Scientists find clues in sediment deposits on Cape Cod[/font]
February 11, 2015
[font size=3]Intense hurricanes possibly more powerful than any storms New England has experienced in recorded history frequently pounded the region during the first millennium, from the peak of the Roman Empire to the height of the Middle Ages, according to results of a new study.
The finding could have implications for understanding the intensity and frequency of hurricanes the U.S. Northeast may experience in the future.
Looking back to see into the future
A record of sediment deposits from Cape Cod, Mass., shows evidence that 23 severe hurricanes hit New England between the years 250 and 1150, the equivalent of a severe storm about once every 40 years on average.
Many of these hurricanes were likely more intense than any that have hit the area in recorded history.
"The ability to produce and synthesize thousands of years of data on hurricane paths and frequencies is revolutionizing our understanding of what controls where and how often these dangerous storms make landfall," said Candace Major, program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Ocean Sciences, which funded the research.
The prehistoric hurricanes were likely category 3 storms (such as Hurricane Katrina) or category 4 storms (Hurricane Hugo) that would be catastrophic if they hit the region today, according to Jeff Donnelly, a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, and lead author of a paper on the results published online today in Earth's Future, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.
…[/font][/font]
