Hypercan
A hypercan is a hypothetical weather event with extremely destructive effects. The various theoretical models assume an oversized tropical cyclone which, due to its size and the enormous wind speeds of up to 800 kilometers per hour, would cause global devastation.
A hyperkan would be 30 km high, where the water vapor from the cloud mountains destroys the ozone layer . However, it is also possible that the hypercan only has a diameter of 16 km with the same cloud height and wind speed.
The term was coined by Kerry Emanuel in 1994 .
Possible causes
According to some researchers, a hypercan can only form at unusually high water temperatures in the oceans . While a hurricane only occurs when the water is warmer than 26.5 ° C, a value of 50 ° C would be required for the formation of a hyperkan. Scientists attribute this temperature, which is already disastrous for marine life, to other global catastrophes, such as the impact of a large meteorite or comet or the eruption of a super volcano . Some speculation is to postulate the existence of hypercans at the end of the Permian , when there was a mass extinction , or to hold them (partly) responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs .
Web links
- Kerry A. Emanuel, Kevin Speer, Richard Rotunno, Ramesh Srivastava, Mario Molina: Hypercanes: A possible link in global extinction scenarios . In: Journal of Geophysical Research . 100, No. D7, 1995, pp. 13,755-13,765. ISSN 0148-0227 . doi : 10.1029 / 95JD01368 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Johann Hari: Copenhagen or the Hyperkan - The Independent of December 7, 2009