What role do tropical cyclones play in the global circulation?
William M. Frank, Penn State University, University Park, PA The talk will first examine the net effects of individual tropical cyclones upon larger-scales within the atmosphere and will estimate their net bulk effects on the global atmospheric circulation. It will then address the question of why the average global number of storms is 80-90 per year. Is it because they tend to form as a result of large-scale instabilities forced by the global circulation (e.g. somewhat analogous to midlatitude baroclinic cyclones)? Or, does the average global number simply reflect the frequency of occurrence of favorable local genesis conditions (e.g. possibly analogous to tornadoes).
