I did get to catch the June 27,2018,PBS' NOVA presentation,'RISE OF THE SUPERSTORMS',WGBH,Boston,2018.
I tried to transcribe the commentary as best I could.
The takeaways from the broadcast for me,were:
*the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season was another record-breaking Black-Swan event.There's never been as many major storms in a single month.
*Harvey was predicted as a CAT-1,and ended up a CAT-4,a bit of a surprise.
*Maria grew from a tropical depression to a CAT-5 in only 54-hours.
*NASA now has a COYOTE drone which can hover,interrogating atmospheric conditions just above the sea surface for an hour.Something new for researchers.
*While Puerto Rico's 'official' death count was 64,at the time of broadcast,it is estimated that over 4,000 died of Maria-related causes.
*Half the population of Puerto Rico are diabetic and without power (refrigeration) insulin ruined,killing those without it.
*Paleoclimatologist,Andrea Dutton,of the University of Florida mentioned 'hot-spots' with respect to sea level rise.While the average,mean sea level of 3mm/year (1-foot/century) might be expected,portions of the Atlantic Ocean are experiencing 5-inches in 5-years,a non-linear,exponential rise.
*And she uses a new term to me,'compound flooding',to describe an extreme rain event in conjunction with a tidal surge.
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If you didn't catch it,it's worth a look,at:
PBS.ORG/Rise of the Superstorms
