Recently increased tropical cyclone activity and inferences concerning coastal erosion and inland hydrological regimes in New Zealand and Eastern Australia

Abstract

For the area bounded by 0-35~ latitude and 105~176 longitude a significant increase of tropical cyclone frequency occurred about 1954-55 and this regime persisted throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Probably this frequency increase was accompanied by an increase of cyclonic storm intensity. It was related to an atmospheric pressure regime change over Australasia which commenced in early 1954.Tropical cyclones produce large rainfall amounts and strong winds which generate high-energy sea waves. Severe damage can result on land and at sea. However, much recently recorded damage has resulted from extra-tropical cyclones.

High-Resolution Climatic Analysis and Southwest Biogeography

“…Sea-surface temperature anomalies have also been related to corn yields and Great Plains droughts in the United States (33). Similar "coincidences" may be drawn from around the globe (4,22), including an apparent asynchrony in the fossil and current meteorological records ofwet-dry cycles between the American Southwest and the Sahara Desert (34).…”

“…The result has been increased year to year persistence of both winter wet periods and winter dry periods. The most notable dry period since 1940 was the mid-1950's drought, the beginning and ending of which were also noted as climatic shifts in the Southern Hemisphere (22). Moreover, the episodes of winter precipitation at Las Cruces corresponded in time and relative intensity with an interannual, long-wave pattern in north Pacific SST anomalies (23).…”