Download Hurricanes! - teachingandlearningwithtech

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 and 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.