Typhoons Striking the Korean Peninsula Trigger 'US Wildfires'

Investigation of the Connection Between Three Typhoons That Hit the Korean Peninsula Last Summer and the Wildfires in the Western United States

The paths of three typhoons that affected the Korean Peninsula in the summer of 2020, (right) the upper atmospheric geopotential height map (red) when the typhoon was predicted, when it was not predicted (black), and the observation (dotted line)

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] A study has found that typhoons that caused significant damage to the Korean Peninsula last summer altered the jet stream, influencing wildfires that occurred in Oregon, on the west coast of the United States. A research team led by Professor Yoon Jin-ho of the Department of Earth Environmental Engineering at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology recently published these findings in the international journal Geophysical Research Letters, the team announced on the 5th.

The research team reached this conclusion by comparatively analyzing experiments that predicted typhoons using various observational data on typhoon tracks in 2020 and multi-ensemble forecast experiment data (GEFS), and experiments that did not predict them.

Last year, a total of 23 typhoons occurred. Among them, four affected South Korea. Although the average number of typhoons affecting the country in previous years was 3.1, last year saw an unusual concentration of typhoons at the end of August. In particular, from late August to early September last year, three typhoons?Typhoon No. 8 (August 22) Bavi, Typhoon No. 9 (August 28) Maysak, and Typhoon No. 10 (September 1) Haishen?moved from south to north, causing extensive damage. As these typhoons moved northward, they transmitted the hot and humid energy of the tropics northward. This powerful energy was strong enough to alter the jet stream, and the change in the jet stream formed a strong high-pressure system along the west coast of the United States. This high-pressure system influenced the occurrence of large wildfires in Oregon.

Professor Yoon Jin-ho said, "Exceptionally, within a short period of two weeks, three typhoons affected the Korean Peninsula causing significant damage and created weather patterns that triggered wildfires in the United States, demonstrating their extreme strength." He added, "This means that extreme weather and climate events should be understood not as regional phenomena but as global phenomena."

Professor Yoon Jin-ho, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.