Naming of amphan cyclone
Naming of amphan cyclone
The first thought that comes to our minds at the mention of the name of this cyclone is devastation. Thousands of houses were destroyed, property damaged and innumerable lives lost. We have encountered several such storms in the past but this one has left a rather deep impact. It has been recorded as one of the strongest cyclones in the history of India. It is thus that we ought to know all that we can about it. To begin with is its name.
Initially, cyclones were not named. This tradition of naming began with ‘Antje’; this was the name of hurricane that arose in the Atlantic Ocean. It was in 2000 that India adopted the idea of giving names to cyclones and other similar natural disasters.
Generally the cyclones are given names for the convenience of identifying them and studying about them. It further aids in reducing confusion, in case there is more than one storm striking simultaneously. The scientific community, the media, the disaster management department and the common people at large are benefitted from this naming.
There is a list of suggested names for cyclones, proposed by the member countries prepared beforehand, for every country. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO)/ United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) included India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Maldives. Each country proposed 8 names and hence a total of 64 names were on the list.
The countries need to follow certain criteria when they are finalising on the names. The guidelines given by the Press Information Bureau for the purpose include –
1. It should not harm any sentiment
2. It should not be influenced by any religion, gender, culture or politics.
3. The name will not be accepted if it is rude, offensive or cruel.
4. It must be easy to pronounce.
5. The highest number of letters forming the name should be eight.
6. Once a name is accepted and used it cannot be used again.
Adhering to these terms, the name of this cyclone was suggested by Thailand back in September, 2004 for the storms that would rise from the north of the Indian Ocean. It is pronounced as ‘Um- pun’ and its meaning is ‘sky’. At the time the list of names was released, the name ‘Amphan’ was still unused, as it was the last name on that list. A new list was later prepared in 2018 when five other countries, namely, Qatar, Iran, Yemen, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia joined the bandwagon. Therefore the list included 169 names from 13 countries suggesting 13 names each. The name Amphan was included in this list. It coincided with the rule of alphabetically assigning names to the occurring cyclones in a year.
This is how the first tropical super cyclonic storm in 2020 was christened ‘Amphan’. The last time India had witnessed a cyclone of this magnitude was in 1999 in the state of Odisha.
© Arked
The first thought that comes to our minds at the mention of the name of this cyclone is devastation. Thousands of houses were destroyed, property damaged and innumerable lives lost. We have encountered several such storms in the past but this one has left a rather deep impact. It has been recorded as one of the strongest cyclones in the history of India. It is thus that we ought to know all that we can about it. To begin with is its name.
Initially, cyclones were not named. This tradition of naming began with ‘Antje’; this was the name of hurricane that arose in the Atlantic Ocean. It was in 2000 that India adopted the idea of giving names to cyclones and other similar natural disasters.
Generally the cyclones are given names for the convenience of identifying them and studying about them. It further aids in reducing confusion, in case there is more than one storm striking simultaneously. The scientific community, the media, the disaster management department and the common people at large are benefitted from this naming.
There is a list of suggested names for cyclones, proposed by the member countries prepared beforehand, for every country. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO)/ United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) included India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Maldives. Each country proposed 8 names and hence a total of 64 names were on the list.
The countries need to follow certain criteria when they are finalising on the names. The guidelines given by the Press Information Bureau for the purpose include –
1. It should not harm any sentiment
2. It should not be influenced by any religion, gender, culture or politics.
3. The name will not be accepted if it is rude, offensive or cruel.
4. It must be easy to pronounce.
5. The highest number of letters forming the name should be eight.
6. Once a name is accepted and used it cannot be used again.
Adhering to these terms, the name of this cyclone was suggested by Thailand back in September, 2004 for the storms that would rise from the north of the Indian Ocean. It is pronounced as ‘Um- pun’ and its meaning is ‘sky’. At the time the list of names was released, the name ‘Amphan’ was still unused, as it was the last name on that list. A new list was later prepared in 2018 when five other countries, namely, Qatar, Iran, Yemen, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia joined the bandwagon. Therefore the list included 169 names from 13 countries suggesting 13 names each. The name Amphan was included in this list. It coincided with the rule of alphabetically assigning names to the occurring cyclones in a year.
This is how the first tropical super cyclonic storm in 2020 was christened ‘Amphan’. The last time India had witnessed a cyclone of this magnitude was in 1999 in the state of Odisha.
© Arked