AUSTIN (KXAN) — Some might wonder when talking about tropical storms and hurricanes how past events may foretell future storms.
Paleoclimatology is a science that helps people better understand the climate of Earth in the past, and paleoclimatologists then try to find out how those climate changes relate to the present and future climate of the planet.
KXAN’s Rich Segal spoke with Dr. Sierra Petersen, a paleoclimatologist at the University of Michigan, about the science.
During the discussion, Dr. Petersen answers how past hurricanes could dictate future hurricane and tropical storm events and whether or not there is a correlation.
She also spoke about the reasoning behind why there can be so much inland flooding after the hurricane starts to lose its strength. The fact that winds decrease as the storm moves over land does not mean the rain intensity and coverage also decrease.
Finally, Dr. Petersen offered a few words about what we might see in the tropics going forward.
