Introduction
Hurricanes have major impacts on human life, and they also have a major impact on the environment. Factually, we are shown that global temperatures are rising. There is a huge debate on whether this is a natural cyclical rise or if this is due to humans burning fossil fuels. At the end of the day, it does not matter why the climate is warming, but more importantly the effect it is having on the world and on the weather. As the climate is growing warmer, we are seeing more and more major hurricanes.
Endangered Species
The number of species which are becoming endangered and extinct is rising rapidly. One of the reasons for this rise is due to the increasing rate of hurricanes. When a hurricane impacts somewhere such as Florida, it can cause strong storm surges, heavy rain, and strong winds. All of these can cause severe damage to animal habitats. When severe damage occurs to the habitat of an animal which is already endangered or is close to becoming endangered, it can quickly cause that species to go extinct. Not to mention, it can take weeks or even months to clean up damage from a hurricane and land can be permanently changed. This damage and change to land can cause displacement for many animals. Many animals become familiar with the land they live in and if it is suddenly changed it can cause many animals to die all at once.
Land
When hurricanes impact land they can cause long lasting changes on the land. The strong storm surges, wind, and rain can shift sand bars and quicken erosion around coastal regions. This shift can change shipping lanes and can destroy animal habitats. In addition, many local buildings, homes, and businesses are destroyed in hurricanes. This destruction leads to the displacement of a large amount of people. This year, one of our employees at Highlands Environmental Solutions visited a small island off Puerto Rico called Vieques. This island was still suffering the impacts of a hurricane that occurred many years before 2022. When a hurricane impacts an area with a weaker economy, it can take them years to recover from the damages the hurricane causes.
These storms can cause damages to different types of tanks and storage containers causing hazardous chemicals to leak out into the environment. Generally, after a major hurricane, the focus is on search and rescue efforts and these leaking chemicals can be disregarded for long periods of time. When these chemicals are left for long periods of time they can contaminate and harm different animals or if left in bodies of water they can flow to different areas miles away harming the environment in those areas as well.
Conclusion
These very severe storms have severe impacts on the environment which can often be overlooked due to the other effects which these storms have. To be properly prepared for these storms it is important to fully understand them and the impacts which they bring. Hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean starts on June 1 and ends November 30 meaning these storms can impact us even later into fall.
Contact Us:
Highlands Environmental Solutions, Inc. is available to assist with emergency response and general environmental compliance. We are ready to respond should an environmental incident occur. Contact us at 1-855-437-3278 or info@hesnc.com.
