Disclaimer: Copyright infringement not intended.
Recently Prime Minister addressed the devastation caused by Cyclone Chido in the French overseas island territory of Mayotte near Madagascar.
It was a severe tropical cyclone that hit Mayotte, a French overseas territory in the Indian Ocean, in December 2024.
With sustained winds exceeding 200 km/h (124 mph) and gusts exceeding 225 km/h (140 mph), it was the strongest storm to hit Mayotte in 90 years.
Mayotte is an archipelago located in the northern part of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, between Madagascar and the coast of Mozambique.
As a French overseas department, it includes two main islands: Grande-Terre (main island) and Petite-Terre (smaller island), along with several islets.
Mayotte is known for its rich biodiversity, including one of the largest enclosed lagoons in the world.
Cyclones are caused by atmospheric disturbances in the vicinity of a low-pressure area characterized by rapid and often destructive air circulation. Cyclones are usually accompanied by violent thunderstorms and bad weather. Air circulates inward counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
(i) extratropical cyclones (also called mild cyclones); and
(ii) tropical cyclones.
The word Cyclone is derived from the Greek word Cyclos, which means serpent coils. It was created by Henry Peddington because tropical storms in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea look like coiled sea serpents.
Cyclones are classified as special tropical cyclones (also called mild cyclones); and tropical cyclones.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO, 1976) uses the term "tropical cyclone" to refer to weather systems in which winds exceed "gale force" (at least 34 knots or 63 km/h). Tropical cyclones are offspring of the ocean and atmosphere, driven by heat from the sea; and driven by Eastern trades and temperate Western lands, high planetary winds and their own wild energy.
In India, cyclones are classified by:
Extra tropical cyclones occur in temperate and high latitude regions, although they are known to originate in polar regions.
Cyclones that develop in the regions between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer are called tropical cyclones. Tropical cyclones are large-scale weather systems that develop in tropical or subtropical waters, where they organize into surface wind flow.
Cyclones have many names in different regions of the world – they are known as typhoons in the China Sea and the Pacific Ocean; hurricanes in the West Indian islands in the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; tornadoes in the Guinean countries of West Africa and southern USA.; willy-willies in northwestern Australia and tropical cyclones in the Indian Ocean.
The criteria below have been formulated by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) which classifies low-pressure systems in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea based on the damage capacity adopted by the WMO.
READ ABOUT
Uncommon cyclones in Arabian Sea
India Meteorological Department
Source:
|
PRACTICE QUESTION Q.Consider the following statements regarding Mayotte:
Which of the above statements is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 Answer: c Explanation: Statement 1 is correct: Mayotte is an archipelago located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, between Madagascar and the coast of Mozambique. Statement 2 is correct: As a French overseas department, it comprises two main islands: Grande-Terre (the main island) and Petite-Terre (a smaller island), along with several islets. Mayotte is known for its rich biodiversity, including one of the world’s largest enclosed lagoons. |
© 2024 iasgyan. All right reserved