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Annotated Bibliography based on the research question,

What are the causes for Hurricane Matthew?
Adger, W. N., Huq, S., Brown, K., Conway, D., & Hulme, M. (2003). Adaptation to climate
change in the developing world. Progress in development studies, 3(3), 179-195.
For a long time now, we have known that the worlds climate is quickly changing and
that the consequences are going to be severe. According to Adger, Hud, Brown, Conway,
and Hulme, these consequences are not only going to be reflected on our natural
resources but also in our social and economic aspects. The article explores all those
possible outcomes and consequences and how we may face the problem that is evidently
going to affect us. The authors close off by exploring the biggest challenge that we are
going to face with climate change: How we are going to adapt to these changes? Overall I
found the article sadly realistic, and it made me contemplate on what I was doing wrong
in my life that is affecting the planet and how I could fix it. This article helps me to
answer my question by exploring the results of climate change, one of which is stronger
hurricanes.
Elsner, J.B. (2008). Hurricanes and Climate Change. Bulletin of the American Meteorological
Society, 89(5). 677-679. Doi: 101175/BAms-89-5-677
James B. Elsner is a recognized scientist who specializes in climatology and is backed up
by the National Scientists Association as well by numerous books written by him. The
article is mainly an overview of the International Summit on Hurricanes and Climate
Change held in 2008. According to Elsner, who was one of the guests of the summit, they
addressed the research made to advance the science of hurricane climate and how to
understand it. It mentions the several approaches that were considered during the summit

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including the Poisson distribution which provides a context that is consistent with the
nature that underlies physical processes and analogous on the laws of physics and the
study of meteorology. Elsner made a good summary of the summit and helped me in my
research to analyze the information scientist had at that time and the information they
have published up to now.
Various Authors. (2016, October). Frequently Asked Questions about Hurricane Matthew and
Climate Change. Union of Concerned Scientists. October 17, 2016, from URL
http://www.ucsusa.org/press/2016/frequently-asked-questions-about-hurricane-matthew
and-climate-change#.WAoljegrIdW
Hurricanes have always existed, however the nationally recognized Union of Concerned
Scientists discovered that hurricanes like Hurricane Matthew, with Category 4 and
Category 5 are being fueled by warmer ocean temperatures in the North Atlantic, which
causes them to be more dangerous. The reason for this misfortune is that global warming
has warmed the ocean 0.7 C since the 1980s and it has risen at least 8 inches. But the
damage of climate change does not end there, it is also affecting rainfall, causing it to
come "in heavier downpours". The article goes on to analyze the research the UCS made
on sites where previous hurricanes hit and compares them to the damage recent
hurricanes did on the same place. It also compares those communities who have been hit
by previous hurricanes and got prepared and how when new hurricanes hit there are less
damages to those who are being recently hit by these "climate change hurricanes". I
found the article very interesting, because it does not only explore the reasons for these
new kinds of hurricanes but also how it affects the communities that are being hit by

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them. The article helped me understand why Hurricane Matthew was so strong, and
destructive.
Holland, G., Bruyere, C. (2014). Recent intense hurricane response to global climate change.
Climate Dynamics, 42(319), 617- 627. doi: 10.1007/s00382-013-1713-0
Hollands and Bruyeres main focus in this article is the Anthropogenic Climate Change
Index and its purpose to investigate the effect global warming has on tropical cyclones.
They both define the ACCI as the difference between the means of ensembles of climate
simulations with and without anthropogenic gases and aerosols. This index indicates that
the bulk of the current anthropogenic warming has occurred in the past four decades,
which enables improved confidence in assessing hurricane changes as it removes many of
the data issues from previous eras. The authors conclude by stating that they did not find
anthropogenic signals in the annual global tropical cyclone or hurricane frequencies. But
they did find evidence that demonstrated that the proportion of Category 4 and 5
hurricanes has increased and the proportions of Category 1 and 2 hurricanes has
decreased. This article seemed more informing that others that I have read and seemed
more focused on informing that on catching the readers attention.
Lott, N. (2000). A climatology of recent extreme weather and climate events. National Climatic
Data Center, 2000(02), 5-18. Retrieved from
http://encore.utep.edu/iii/encore/record/C__Rb2256665
Lotts climatology (the study of the climate) covers the details, and graphics for 46 major
weather events during 1980-1999 from all over the United States. To gather all of this
information Lott used the National Climatic Data Center, an organization responsible for
observing and measuring the Earths climate. He chose the 1980-1999 period due to the

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amount of damage those catastrophes caused, resulting in more than one billion dollars in
damages. Lott concluded that out of the 46 devastations, 14 were either hurricanes or
tropical storms. However, contrary to other articles or books that I have read on the
subject, he states that the cause of these weather events is society, not climate change.
From my point of view, it was refreshing to have another opinion different from the more
common reason that climate change is the cause for catastrophic hurricanes, but I do
disagree with his conclusion.
Perez-Peraza, J., Libin, I.Y. (2012). Highlights in helioclimatology : cosmophysical influences
on climate and hurricanes. Boston: Elsevier
Getting their information from the recognized scientist Knonovich, Perez-Peraza and
Libin write about how climate change is not only going to affect us globally, but
permanently. The threat is so damaging that both authors dare to compare climate change
to the hard fight against terrorism. They argue that the first evidence of climate change is
the catastrophic impact of the meteorite that disappeared various species, like the
dinosaurs, and that catastrophes like that one started to occur, forming correlations
between climate change and the way the Earth reacted. And what do they blame to be the
cause for these devastations? The answer is the Sun. The authors argue that whether it is
because the planet is too exposed to the rays of the sun or because of the position of the
yellow star, the influence of the sun in our planet is a hazard to us. I found the article very
interesting and it gave me another point of view to use in the search of my questions
answer.

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Tannehill, T. R. (1980). Hurricanes: their nature and history, particularly those of the West
Indies and southern coasts of the United States. Princeton: Princeton University Press
For people who are not informed in the subject of cyclones and hurricanes this book
explains the matter splendidly. The book contains from facts and theories to all known
history of hurricanes. Tannehill also included references to past hurricanes that have
occurred in the United States and the damages they caused. The book is backed up by the
Weather Bureau, where the author worked at. I found this book very helpful since it was
the first book I read while looking for sources to answer my question. Tannehill explained
everything in a very explicit manner.
National Geographic Television & Film. (2010, October 15). True Faces of Hurricanes [Video
File]. Retrieved from http://0-fod.infobase.com.lib.utep.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?
xtid=40853
National Geographic is not only a globally recognized magazine, but also a watch to pay
channel, a research organization, and a philanthropy organization. In this video made in
2006 by National Geographic, but released in 2010, we learn the basic reasons why
hurricanes form, and during which seasons they appear. The Meteorological Organization
considers a tropical storm to become a hurricane at 74 mph or higher in a scale of 1 to 5.
Other basic facts given in the video is that the wind speed of the hurricane does not
measure the amount of damage it is going to make, and that now a days scientists
measure the temperature, pressure and wind speed by flying inside the hurricane.
National Geographic tells us that scientists believe that rising global temperatures could
lead to more disastrous storms, just like other authors I mentioned in this assignment.

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This video gave me the basic information about how hurricanes are formed and how they
are measured.