Hurricanes as an enabler of Amazon fires
File(s)s41598-021-96420-6.pdf (4.7 MB)
Published version
OA Location
Author(s)
Tsui, Enoch Yan Lok
Toumi, Ralf
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
A teleconnection between North Atlantic tropical storms and Amazon fires is investigated as a possible case of compound remote extreme events. The seasonal cycles of the storms and fires are in phase with a maximum around September and have significant inter-annual correlation. Years of high Amazon fire activity are associated with atmospheric conditions over the Atlantic which favour tropical cyclones. We propose that anomalous precipitation and latent heating in the Caribbean, partly caused by tropical storms, leads to a thermal circulation response which creates anomalous subsidence and enhances surface solar heating over the Amazon. The Caribbean storms and precipitation anomalies could thus promote favourable atmospheric conditions for Amazon fire.
Date Issued
2021-08-20
Date Acceptance
2021-08-03
Citation
Scientific Reports, 2021, 11 (1), pp.1-8
ISSN
2045-2322
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Start Page
1
End Page
8
Journal / Book Title
Scientific Reports
Volume
11
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2021. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-96420-6
Subjects
Science & Technology
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Science & Technology - Other Topics
VARIABILITY
ATLANTIC
RAINFALL
SAVANNA
AMERICA
FOREST
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-08-20