FLYING into the heart of a hurricane, half a kilometre above the Atlantic Ocean, meteorologist began to fear for his life. Contrary to his expectations, the eye of the storm was no haven of calm 鈥� screaming winds were pummelling his aircraft. 鈥淭he winds had pretty much trashed the inside of the plane,鈥� he says. Just when he thought things couldn鈥檛 get any worse, one of the plane鈥檚 four engines failed.
That was back in 1989. Marks, now director of the in Miami, Florida, recalls the frantic hour he spent attempting to repair the plane before somehow managing to land. He鈥檚 been flying into storms ever since. 鈥淚 will never be bored of seeing the tropical sky,鈥� he says.
Marks is part of a disparate community of researchers who specialise in extreme weather and its effects on society. Thanks to human-made climate change, events like storms, heatwaves and floods are on the rise, and there is growing demand for people who understand these phenomena and can advise the rest of us on how to handle them.
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Marks, for one, is using radar to measure the rainfall pattern within a storm, which gives clues to the storm鈥檚 size and likely path.
, head of observation-based research at the Met Office in Exeter, UK, also flies modified planes into weather events to study them. When the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallaj枚kull erupted in 2010 and left a troublesome ash cloud in the sky, Taylor鈥檚 team flew straight into the haze. The researchers鈥� measurements of the cloud and its ash particles enabled them to predict how long it might continue to disrupt air travel.
If the thought of joining a storm-hunting team appeals, a degree in meteorology is a good place to start, says Marks. But it鈥檚 not just meteorologists who fly into storms. About half of Taylor鈥檚 team is made up of engineers who maintain the aircraft and design software to analyse the data collected.
People trained in risk assessment and communication are also valuable to extreme weather research, says Marks. When hurricane Irene hit the north-eastern US in 2011, the governor of Maryland state, Martin O鈥橫alley, asked Marks when he should shut the bridge across Chesapeake Bay. It is a straightforward enough question, but no one had prepared an answer, says Marks, who will be looking for communication skills in future colleagues.
, an international weather consultancy, is often called on by companies for similar advice. Its meteorologists are quizzed over when specific roads are likely to freeze over and need gritting, when strong winds might damage electricity cables and when storms might pose a threat to oil rigs.
THE COASTAL DEFENDERS
As last year鈥檚 dramatic images of waterlogged streets across the UK, US and Russia serve to remind us, extreme weather events can trigger devastating floods. Preventing them will, in part, involve investigating exactly how tides overcome coastal defences, and how we can protect coasts from worsening erosion.
That鈥檚 why at Plymouth University, UK, has set up the country鈥檚 first mobile coastal response unit. As soon as his team hears of an approaching coastal storm, the members head out to monitor the damage (see 鈥淎 week in the life of a storm chaser鈥�, page 49). It certainly beats camping out on beaches in winter, waiting for bad weather to hit, which is what the team used to do. 鈥淲e realised, if we really want to do this, we need to be more mobile,鈥� says Masselink. 鈥淪o we bought a van and trailer, and equipment that could be set up in one day.鈥�
聯As soon as the team hears of an approaching coastal storm, people head out to monitor the damage聰
Masselink鈥檚 team uses laser scanners to monitor the changing shape of a beach during a storm. The data collected will help us understand the effect of storms on coasts and help predict the impact of future storms.
The team is particularly interested in the damage storms do to gravel and shingle beaches. Most of the UK鈥檚 nuclear power stations are on the coast, and although those coastlines are stable now, they may not remain so. 鈥淪ea levels are rising and storms are becoming more intense,鈥� Masselink says. His work might be able to tell us how secure our nuclear power stations really are.
Masselink developed an interest in coastal science while studying for a degree in physical geography, which he followed up with a PhD. Today he is professor of coastal geomorphology. 鈥淚f research is the thing that makes you tick, you have to become an academic,鈥� he says.
With coastal expertise, you can also look forward to plenty of opportunities in the private sector that will pay better than academia. These are generally consultancy work, advising governments and companies on how to build and adapt coastal infrastructure.
THE FIRESTARTERS
A jeep slowly rolls through a Canadian forest while its passenger blasts out jets of fire from the back of the vehicle using a flamethrower. It isn鈥檛 a scene from a Vietnam war movie, but a bona fide study of wildfires.
As the world warms, we can expect more extreme heat, which in turn can trigger wildfires. More than 90 bush fires ravaged Australia recently after temperatures rose so high that . 鈥淲orldwide, we are getting more fires, and more fires in populated areas,鈥� says at Swansea University, UK.
Doerr routinely starts wildfires in heath and gorse areas in the UK and around the world to try to understand how such blazes might affect the ecosystem. Beyond harming people and property, wildfires have insidious after-effects on vegetation and water supplies. 鈥淵ou get lots of run-off, which means floods and landslides, and contamination of reservoirs and rivers,鈥� Doerr says. His team鈥檚 findings help agencies like the identify regions at risk.
Along with research, there are good careers to be had in fire management. A degree or PhD in geography, biology, environmental science or engineering is advisable.
Wildfire researchers have to enjoy working in remote locations, says Doerr, who recently returned from Patagonia. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e also got to be ready to go whenever there鈥檚 an event.鈥� And for the reader who might be tempted to try this at home: flame-throwing experience is not a requirement.