I read somewhere that the Gulf water was warmer than the ocean by 1C when the hurricanes went onto it. So I used that to find out how much extra energy a 1C difference gives to a hurricane.
I did it for a cylinder of water 500 km in diameter and 50m deep. I got a volume of about 1x10^19 cubic centimeters. The density of water is 1g/cm^3 so that cylinder of water is about 1x10^16 kg. The specific heat of water is 4186 J/kgK, which means it takes 4186 joules of energy to raise the temperature of 1 kg of water by one K. The size of C and K is the same so the Gulf was 1K warmer than the ocean. The mass times temperature difference times the specific heat gives the amount of extra heat energy. I got about 4x10^19 J. There is 4.184x10^15 joules in one megaton of TNT, so the figure I got is almost 10,000 megatons.
I looked at this page to compare this amount of energy to other amounts. Ten thousand megatons is equal to over 750 thousand Hiroshima bombs and about half a million Nagasaki bombs. A typical hydrogen bomb releases one megaton, so it's like 10,000 H bombs going off. The largest bomb detonated was the Soviet 50 megaton Tsar Bomba. The water has 200 times more than that in extra energy.
The Mount St. Helens eruption was about 350 megatons, so the water has almost thirty times more than that in extra energy. The Indian Ocean earthquake last year was about 475 megatons. The volume of water has about 20 times more extra energy. The Novarupta eruption in Alaska in 1912 was at 3500 megatons. The water has three time that amount in extra energy.The eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 was about 5250 megatons. The excess energy of the water is twice that. The Tambora eruption in 1815 was about 24500 megatons with the water's excess energy being 40 percent of that. The most recent very large Yellowstone eruption 640,000 years ago was at about 875000 megatons. A lot of North America got cover in ashes. The excess energy in the Gulf water is only about 1 percent of that eruption's energy.
An impact by a 15 km wide asteroid or comet has an energy of about 100 million megatons. The extra energy in the water is only one hundredth of a percent of that.
The article says "Of course, with all such comparisons, the rate and volume into which the energy is released creates a qualitatively different perception of the output." The energy of the hurricane is spread out over a large volume. With volcanos, it's in a smaller volume so it can blow up mountains.
I looked for things on the amount of energy hurricanes release and found this. It gives figures of 5.2x10^19 J/day for the amount of energy per day released by condensation of water vapor and 1.3x10^17 J/day for the amount of energy from the winds per day. So, I guess the hurricane would suck up the energy in the volume of water I considered in 1 day as the water evaporates and releases latent heat when it condenses.
The article also uses a diameter of 665 km. When I used that with a 50 m depth, I got a figure of over 17 thousand megatons. That is the energy of 1.3 million Hiroshimas, 50 St. Helens, 3 Krakatoas, 2 percent of the latest big Yellowstone eruption and 2 hundredth percent of the 15km impact.
I did it for a cylinder of water 500 km in diameter and 50m deep. I got a volume of about 1x10^19 cubic centimeters. The density of water is 1g/cm^3 so that cylinder of water is about 1x10^16 kg. The specific heat of water is 4186 J/kgK, which means it takes 4186 joules of energy to raise the temperature of 1 kg of water by one K. The size of C and K is the same so the Gulf was 1K warmer than the ocean. The mass times temperature difference times the specific heat gives the amount of extra heat energy. I got about 4x10^19 J. There is 4.184x10^15 joules in one megaton of TNT, so the figure I got is almost 10,000 megatons.
I looked at this page to compare this amount of energy to other amounts. Ten thousand megatons is equal to over 750 thousand Hiroshima bombs and about half a million Nagasaki bombs. A typical hydrogen bomb releases one megaton, so it's like 10,000 H bombs going off. The largest bomb detonated was the Soviet 50 megaton Tsar Bomba. The water has 200 times more than that in extra energy.
The Mount St. Helens eruption was about 350 megatons, so the water has almost thirty times more than that in extra energy. The Indian Ocean earthquake last year was about 475 megatons. The volume of water has about 20 times more extra energy. The Novarupta eruption in Alaska in 1912 was at 3500 megatons. The water has three time that amount in extra energy.The eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 was about 5250 megatons. The excess energy of the water is twice that. The Tambora eruption in 1815 was about 24500 megatons with the water's excess energy being 40 percent of that. The most recent very large Yellowstone eruption 640,000 years ago was at about 875000 megatons. A lot of North America got cover in ashes. The excess energy in the Gulf water is only about 1 percent of that eruption's energy.
An impact by a 15 km wide asteroid or comet has an energy of about 100 million megatons. The extra energy in the water is only one hundredth of a percent of that.
The article says "Of course, with all such comparisons, the rate and volume into which the energy is released creates a qualitatively different perception of the output." The energy of the hurricane is spread out over a large volume. With volcanos, it's in a smaller volume so it can blow up mountains.
I looked for things on the amount of energy hurricanes release and found this. It gives figures of 5.2x10^19 J/day for the amount of energy per day released by condensation of water vapor and 1.3x10^17 J/day for the amount of energy from the winds per day. So, I guess the hurricane would suck up the energy in the volume of water I considered in 1 day as the water evaporates and releases latent heat when it condenses.
The article also uses a diameter of 665 km. When I used that with a 50 m depth, I got a figure of over 17 thousand megatons. That is the energy of 1.3 million Hiroshimas, 50 St. Helens, 3 Krakatoas, 2 percent of the latest big Yellowstone eruption and 2 hundredth percent of the 15km impact.
