Indian Ocean Tropical Cyclones and Climate Change
The book is about climate change and tropical cyclones, with an emphasis on the Indian Ocean. It highlights a probability of major changes in tropical cyclone activity across the various ocean basins. The Indian Ocean including the Arabian Sea and the Bay
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Yassine Charabi Editor
Indian Ocean Tropical Cyclones and Climate Change With Salim Al-Hatrushi
Editor Yassine Charabi Department of Geography Sultan Qaboos University Muscat, Oman [email protected]
ISBN 978-90-481-3108-2 e-ISBN 978-90-481-3109-9 DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3109-9 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2009942532 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Cover Images: Tropical Cyclone Kalunde, photo courtesy of NASA/GSFC, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team. Photos of damages caused by Cyclone Gonu (2007) in Muskat (left) and Oman (right), pages 178 and 227 of this volume. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Acknowledgments
We would like to express our sincere thanks to Professor Amer Bin Ali Al-Rawas, Vice Deputy Chancellor of Postgraduate Studies and Scientific Research (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman) for his exceptional support throughout many phases of the project. Thanks to the authors who have generously contributed to the chapters of this volume.
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Preface
Tropical cyclones are topic that is not appropriately known to the public at large, but climate change has been on the public’s mind since the last decade and a concern that has peaked in the new millennium. Like the television programs of Jean Yves Cousteau the ‘plight of the oceans’, have recent documentaries nurtured a consciousness that major climatological changes are in the offing, even have started to develop. The retreat of glaciers on mountain tops and in Polar Regions is ‘being seen’ on ‘the small screen’ and has favored an environmental awareness in all populations that are enjoying an average well-being on Planet Earth. The vivid images on screen of storms, floods, and tsunamis share the fear provoking landscapes of deforestation, desertification and the like. Watching such as this one is seen are voices warning of what over is ‘in store’ if the causative problems are not remedied. Talking and discussing are useful, but action must follow. Understanding the full ramifications of climate change on tropical cyclones is a task that will takes several decades. In Climate Change 2007, the Fourth Assessment Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) a high probability of major changes in tropical cyclone activity across the various ocean basins is highlighted. The Indian Ocean including the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal are of particular concern because of the high population density along their coastlines. These coastal populations are vulnerable to the negative impact of these proje
