Monsoons and Cyclones

Monsoons and Cyclones

Two of the worlds most devastating and costly naturally occurring events are Monsoons and Cyclones. They bring many fatalities all over the world every year. Though they both are very different natural disasters, monsoons and cyclones have many things in common.

Monsoons are winds that occur seasonally in India. They bring with them torrential rain in the summer and dry weather in the winter. The summer months of the monsoon are from May to August. This is the time period when the land heats up quickly which causes a temperature difference between the Indian Ocean and the central asian landmass. This causes the air of the land to heat and it rises. This draws in water vapor saturated air from the Indian ocean. The monsoons bring thunderstorms and widespread flooding. This accounts for 80% of the Indian annual rainfall. The summer monsoons start to end after the land mass cools in September.

Cyclones are large rotating storms that form in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. They have many different names. In the North Atlantic they are called hurricanes, in the north-west pacific they are called typhoons and in the Indian ocean they are called cyclones. They occur during the hottest months of the year as the moisture evaporates from the ocean the warm humid air rises, cools, and condenses to form thunderclouds while a current of air rushes inwards to replace the rising air. When the winds strengthen they swirl around a low pressure center called the eye of the storm. They need a minimum sea temperature of 26.5 degrees celsius. In the northern hemisphere they spin counter-clockwise and in the southern hemisphere they spin clockwise. They bring high winds, heavy rainfall and storm surges to the areas it hits.

Even though these intense natural events have very different characteristics they both have some things in common. Both are needed by the local farmers to bring rain to their crops. The farmers rely upon the increase in water so if the storm does not happen there could be a drought and not much food. The storms have some very similar tendencies like having strong winds, and heavy rains. Both may cause flooding because of the strong winds and heavy rains. The most important similarity to the people that live in the area these storms live in is the storms ability to bring destruction. These storms are capable of destroying buildings and forests which can upset the ecosystems in these areas. The storms also can bring many fatalities.

These naturally occurring events have their differences, like where they are located and how they form but they both have some similarities. Its that they can bring widespread destruction and this boils down to the high wind and heavy rains. No person can stop these events from occurring so the best thing a person can do is be informed and be prepared to help save themselves from these natural disasters.