Climate variability, tropical cyclone activity focus of new book

“Climate Variability and Tropical Cyclone Activity” book cover

A new book titled “Climate Variability and Tropical Cyclone Activity” written by SOEST professor of atmospheric sciences Pao-Shin Chu and Hiroyuki Murakami from the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory and published by Cambridge University Press is available starting today in the Americas and Asia.  

“As Earth warms, we anticipate to see extreme events become more frequent or more intense—meaning increasing hurricane rainfall, flooding and destructive winds; heat waves; drought and wildfires,” said Chu, who is also the Hawai‘i State Climatologist. “These events will undoubtedly impact communities around the world.”

Topics highlighted in the book include climate variability on various timescales; the effects of different climate modes, such as El Nino and the Pacific Meridional Mode, on the formation, intensity and track of tropical cyclones in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans; and predictions of tropical cyclones and how climate change will impact associated extreme typhoon rainfall.

This book is intended for use in graduate-level college courses. The material was successfully tested for classroom use during an experimental Atmospheric Sciences course in SOEST.

“Usually, scientists study climate or tropical cyclones separately but through this book, we tried to combine them so scientists from one side can learn what is happening on the other side and collectively we can improve our understanding of dangerous extreme weather events,” said Chu.  

Read also on UH News.