Hurricanes on Speed - The Hypercane

The hypercane theory was an accident, the StumbleUpon of the 90s. Kerry Emanuel, a professor at MIT was just trying to figure out what the highest intensity an ordinary hurricane could reach, but he found something entirely different instead. Emanuel, with his research team which included Nobel laureate Mario Molina, found that instead of hurricanes just getting warmer and creating new levels in the Safir-Simpson scale the intensity simply skyrocketed. The sudden jump in their models required them to classify it as an entirely different storm, thus creating the Hypercane.

So what exactly is a hypercane?

A hypercane is a theoretical extreme tropical cyclone of massive proportions that are caused by an extreme heating of the ocean in a particular area, probable causes being a direct impact from an asteroid or a significant underwater volcanic eruption.

During 1980 Physicist Luis Alvarez and Geologist son Walter Alvarez found something that supported the hypercane theory when searching the rock layers of the KT Boundary*. In the rock they found embedded in the layers of clay, something they didn’t expect. Extremely high levels of iridium, something not even commonly found on the surface of Earth- a platinum metal that is usually only found in asteroids and meteorites. And it was everywhere, all over the globe at the KT boundary ridiculously high levels of iridium were found. The only plausible explanation? .. An impact with Earth, and a big one at that. They estimated that something around 6 miles wide hit the Earth, causing the iridium to be spread globally, they also estimated that the crater would be about 100 kilometers in diameter.

And Glen Penfield had found just that while searching for oil, a monstrous crater underwater in the Yucatan Peninsula, The Chicxulub Crater.

The Chicxulub Crater Impact Site

I have to be honest with you- Who knows if we will even be around to see conditions optimal for creating hypercanes happen, and if they did how much warning we would even get… if we got any at all. But hey, it happened once, and it could most certainly happen again. I for one hope it doesn’t, cause then it’d be slim pickings dating wise.. and I don’t wanna have to repopulate the Earth- as my uterus kind of takes a liking to not being bombarded. For the foreseeable future though, we’ll just be stuck with slightly intensified storm seasons, with a lot more big ones. Always remember, if you see a storm that looks like it’s is going to hit near you or is tracked to do so- get out of there! .. And don’t forget to tie your laces before you start running like hell.

Who am I kidding though? If it were me, I’d be riding it out. Irene was cool, but I want a real hurricane. If one came I would most certainly stay behind to actually experience it.. but you have to remember that I’m Disaster Girl. If a major category hurricane came around I would also be very prepared, and not drunk like the other folks who’d ended up staying behind. I’d have a sweet boat, a life jacket, a water-resistant camera, scuba tanks and really do it right. None of that “I’m a survivor. I can do it with no supplies.” bullshit. Preparation is everything, and if you go at it with nothing you likely ended up being the dude that the coast guard has to spend hours rescuing (that is if they find you). You’ll go down in history as being the guy that decided it was a better idea to ride the current than actually grab onto something other than your IKEA sofa cushion.

xoxo disaster girl

P.F.S. Links for the Curious
MegaStorms: Hypercane
MIT Scientist says Hypercanes Possible
Hypercane Wiki

*The K–T boundary is a geological signature, usually a thin band, dated to (65.5 ± 0.3) Ma (megaannum, or million years ago). K is the traditional abbreviation for the Cretaceous period, and T is the abbreviation for the Tertiary period

Pangaea, Earth Crust Displacement and Continental Drifts

Cartography has been around for a very long time, with the oldest map ever recovered dating way back to about fourteen thousand years ago.. And who knows what we haven’t found or what didn’t survive. There are so many different kinds of maps that already exist and as the years pass we keep adding more to the list.

Here’s a few of the types that I view as important and/or interesting:
-Retrospective Maps
-Prophetic Maps [See: The Futurist Map's Of America & The World]
-Historically Significant Maps
-Topographic Maps
-Physical Maps & Climate Maps

Pangaea was first documented in 1596 by Dutch map maker Abraham Ortelius, but not really considered until 1912 when German meteorologist Alfred Lothar Wegener introduced his theory called Continental drift. Wegener coined the name Pangaea but there had already been retrospective maps created that depicted Pangaea including one drawn by Antonio Snider-Pellegrini in 1858.

Pangaea is Depicted as looking like this:

Alfred Lothar Wegener’s theory of Continental Drift proposed that all of Earth’s continents were once a single area of land mass that made up the supercontinent Pangaea. Wegener theorized that over the last 250 million years the earth continents were pulled apart and moved to their current locations. He could not however, figure out what exactly could have enough force to move such large things such far distances. It wasn’t until the 1950s & 60s that the theory was accepted by the scientific community with the development of the concepts of seafloor spreading. This is Pangaea’s movement in small increments.

The theory of Continental Drift is now widely accepted and we now know each continent moves a couple centimeters each year. There are still those who debate whether Pangaea existed or not, but there is quite a decent amount of evidence supporting it.
Some of the Evidence includes:
-Continental Coastlines Appear to fit like a Puzzle
-Matching fossils of Plants and Reptiles on Different Continents
- Distinctive Rock Strata shared by two Land Masses
-Antarctic Coal Distribution

Pangaea wasn’t the only supercontinent either- as supercontinents are formed in cycles with the new one being formed from the previously broken ones pieces colliding with each other. Before Pangaea was Pannotia, before Pannotia was Rodinia, before Rodinia was Columbia, before Columbia was Kenorland, before Kenorland was Ur, and before Ur was Vaalbara. Supercontinent cycles are estimated to last between 300-500 million years, and with the formation of Pangaea taking place around 300 million years ago one can only speculate if we are overdue for another collision or still have some time left.

Charles Hapgood was the first person to hypothesize that the earth’s crust could move very quickly, a theory he called earth’s crust displacement. Hapgood suggested that the weight of the ice on the poles could be enough to shift the axis. Hapgood brought his work to Einstein who was excited about the idea but disagreed that the weight of the ice could cause such things to happen. Einstein supported the idea that the earth’s crust could move suddenly even though Hapgood had not sufficiently explained what could cause such movements, and he even wrote the forward to Hapgood’s Earth’s Shifting Crust.

So basically this might happen to you on a future vacation.

Earth Crust Displacement theory still hasn’t been accepted by the scientific community. There is some supporting evidence that extreme temperature changes have taken place over portions of the earth but whether or not the cause is extreme storms or sudden changes in positioning of the continent is unknown.

Either way we'd be fucked.

So if North American decides it wants to combine with Russia and crush Japan, don’t be surprised. And if you happen to survive, it’s gonna be a whole new world. Filled with Cannibals and crazies, a world where personal hygiene consists of covering yourself in mud and brushing your teeth with a leaf, a world where morals do not exist, and free will is restored to its original meaning. If it does happen, I for one am looking forward to loin cloths and coconuts, and perfecting my skills as an archer.


xoxo disaster girl
P.F.S. Links for the Curious
Cataclysmic Pole Shift Hypothesis Wiki
Plate Tectonics Theory Wiki
Charles Hapgood Wiki
Charles Hapgood’s Earths Shifting Crust
Rand Flem Ath 2 HR Radio Interview