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What are the Harmful Effects of a Typhoon?

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SCIENCE
What are the harmful effects of a typhoon?
Typhoon winds can affect buildings and other structures in two ways: through direct force
and through projectiles. Direct force is when a wind gust slams directly into a building or
structure and causes physical damage, such as when wind blows the roof off a home. Wind
can also inflict damage by picking up and launching debris and other items, such as tree
branches and building materials, into buildings and other structures. The heavy and
persistent rainfall that typhoons bring can also have devastating effects. In addition to
making homes uninhabitable, the flooding associated with typhoons can make roads
impassable, which can cripple rescue and aid efforts.
Typhoons can also affect the natural environment, and cause harm to trees and other
vegetation, including crops that communities may rely on for sustenance or trade, or both.
Strong winds can snap branches; detach and injure leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds; and
uproot trees and plants. Flooding can produce over-saturation and drown out vegetation.
Typhoons also deposit large quantities of salt onto plant life, which can have adverse
effects. According to the Green Fun website, trees and vegetation in urban areas are more
susceptible to typhoon damage, as they tend to grow in poor, restricted soil conditions.
Typhoons are also well-known for stirring up the seas. Individuals on watercraft or those
performing water operations (such as on oil rigs) not only have to contend with heavy
winds and rain, but they have to deal with massive waves and, in general, turbulent water
conditions. According to the Naval Historical Center website, typhoons have a history of
causing harm out at sea, and this was especially true during World War II, when Pacific
naval fleets were regularly battered by the storms. Today, fishing boats, cruise ships and
other vessels rely on sophisticated technology to help them predict and avoid the
devastating effects of typhoons.
Intertropical Convergence Zone
The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), known by sailors as the doldrums, is the area
encircling the earth near the equator where the northeast and southeast trade winds come together.
The ITCZ was originally identified from the 1920s to the 1940s as the "Intertropical Front" (ITF),
but after the recognition in the 1940s and 1950s of the significance of wind field
convergence in tropical weather production, the term "ITCZ" was then applied. When it lies near
the equator, it is called the near-equatorial trough. Where the ITCZ is drawn into and merges with
a monsoonal circulation, it is sometimes referred to as a monsoon trough, a usage more common
in Australia and parts of Asia. In the seamen's speech the zone is referred to as the doldrums
because of its erratic weather patterns with stagnant calms and violent thunderstorms.
The ITCZ appears as a band of clouds, usually thunderstorms,that circle the globe near the equator.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the trade winds move in a southwestern direction from the northeast,
while in the Southern Hemisphere, they move northwestward from the southeast. When the ITCZ
is positioned north or south of the equator, these directions change according to the Coriolis
effect imparted by the rotation of the earth. For instance, when the ITCZ is situated north of the
equator, the southeast trade wind changes to a southwest wind as it crosses the equator. The ITCZ
is formed by vertical motion largely appearing as convective activity of thunderstorms driven by
solar heating, which effectively draw air in; these are the trade winds. The ITCZ is effectively a
tracer of the ascending branch of the Hadley cell, and is wet. The dry descending branch is
the horse latitudes.

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Doldrums
The doldrums is a colloquial expression derived from historical maritime usage, in which it refers
to those parts of the Atlantic Oceanand the Pacific Ocean affected by the Intertropical
Convergence Zone, a low-pressure area around the equator where the prevailing winds are calm.
The low pressure is caused by the expanding atmosphere due to heating at the equator, which
makes the air rise and travel north and south high in the atmosphere, until it subsides again in
the horse latitudes. Some of that air returns to the doldrums through the trade winds. This process
can lead to light or variable winds and more severe weather, in the form of squalls, thunderstorms
and hurricanes. The doldrums are also noted for calm periods when the winds disappear altogether,
trapping sail-powered boats for periods of days or weeks. The term appears to have arisen in the
18th century; when cross-Equator sailing voyages became more common.The word is derived
from dold (an archaic term meaning "stupid") and -rum(s), a noun suffix found in such words as
"tantrum".
Thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, or a thundershower, is
a type of stormcharacterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's
atmosphere known as thunder.
[1]
Thunderstorms occur in association with a type of cloud known
as a cumulonimbus. They are usually accompanied by strong winds, heavy rain and
sometimes snow, sleet, hail, or, in contrast, no precipitation at all. Thunderstorms may line up in
a series or rainband, known as a squall line. Strong or severe thunderstorms may rotate, known
as supercells. While most thunderstorms move with the mean wind flow through the layer of
the troposphere that they occupy, vertical wind shearcauses a deviation in their course at a right
angle to the wind shear direction.
Thunderstorms result from the rapid upward movement of warm, moist air.
Warm, moist updraft from a thunderstorm associated with a southward-moving frontal boundary.
Taken from Texarkana, Texas looking north.
They can occur inside warm, moist air masses and at fronts. As the warm, moist air moves upward,
it cools, condenses, and forms cumulonimbus clouds that can reach heights of over 20 km (12.45
miles). As the rising air reaches its dew point, water droplets and ice form and begin falling the
long distance through the clouds towards the Earth's surface. As the droplets fall, they collide with
other droplets and become larger. The falling droplets create a downdraft of cold air and moisture
that spreads out at the Earth's surface, causing the strong winds commonly associated with
thunderstorms, and occasionally fog.
Thunderstorms can generally form and develop in any particular geographic location, perhaps most
frequently within areas located at mid-latitude when warm moist air collides with cooler
air.
[2]
Thunderstorms are responsible for the development and formation of many severe weather
phenomena. Thunderstorms, and the phenomena that occur along with them, pose great hazards to
populations and landscapes. Damage that results from thunderstorms is mainly inflicted
by downburstwinds, large hailstones, and flash flooding caused by heavy precipitation. Stronger
thunderstorm cells are capable of producing tornadoes and waterspouts. A 1953 study found that
the average thunderstorm over several hours expends enough energy to equal 50 A-bombs of the
type that was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan during World War Two.
[3]
There are four types of
thunderstorms: single-cell, multicell cluster, multicell lines, and supercells.
Tornado

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SCIENCE What are the harmful effects of a typhoon? Typhoon winds can affect buildings and other structures in two ways: through direct force and through projectiles. Direct force is when a wind gust slams directly into a building or structure and causes physical damage, such as when wind blows the roof off a home. Wind can also inflict damage by picking up and launching debris and other items, such as tree branches and building materials, into buildings and other structures. The heavy and persistent rainfall that typhoons bring can also have devastating effects. In addition to making homes uninhabitable, the flooding associated with typhoons can make roads impassable, which can cripple rescue and aid efforts. Typhoons can also affect the natural environment, and cause harm to trees and other vegetation, including crops that communities may rely on for sustenance or trade, or both. Strong winds can snap branches; detach and injure leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds; and uproot trees and plants. Flooding can produce over-saturation and drown out vegetation. Typhoons also deposit large quantities of salt onto plant life, which can have adverse effects. According to the Green Fun website, trees and vegetation in urban areas are more susceptible to typhoon damage, as they tend to grow in poor, restricted soil conditions. Typhoons are also well-known for stirring up the seas. Individuals on watercraft or those performing water operations (such as on oil rigs) not only have to con ...
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