How climate change is affecting hurricanes
Recently, Hurricane Idalia caused destruction across the Florida Panhandle. Not even a week later, Hurricane Lee created rip currents and dangerous waves across the Northeast. It seems that in recent years, hurricanes have been increasing in both number and intensity. With climate change, it’s only expected to get worse.
A hurricane requires several conditions in order to form and be sustained. They often begin as a “tropical wave,” which the National Ocean Service defines as a “low pressure area that moves through the moisture-rich tropics.” The ocean that a hurricane forms over must be warmer than a specific temperature, 26.5 degrees Celsius (around 80 degrees Fahrenheit), to be exact. As the tropical wave moves across the oceans, warm air from the ocean rises and, as it cools, forms thunderstorms and clouds. More air enters and rises, creating a cycle powered by heat and energy. To be classified as a hurricane, winds within the system must reach at least 74 mph. After that, the hurricanes are classified by the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, based on their sustained wind speed. When it reaches land and human settlements, these storms can cause immense amounts of damage that can take years and billions of dollars to recover from.
There are several reasons why climate change is expected to increase the intensity of hurricanes. For one, a global temperature increase means that oceans will on average be warmer, giving more opportunity for them to meet the 26.5 degrees hurricane formation threshold. Additionally, according to the Environmental Defense Fund, the warmer the ocean water is, the more evaporation and heat there is to fuel the hurricane, greatly increasing its intensity. Another effect of climate change, sea level rise, also increases the destruction caused by hurricanes because the higher water levels are, the more that surrounding areas will be affected by storm surge. Storm surge is, according to the EDF, “when waters rise above their normal levels and are pushed inland by wind.” This phenomenon caused significant damage and loss of life in hurricanes such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Although much of the damage caused by these intensifying hurricanes is already observable, researchers project that, as the planet warms, this trend will continue. Many of these findings are summarized in an article from the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. It is projected that there will be an increase in global hurricane rainfall rates, hurricane intensity, and proportion of hurricanes that reach the “intense” categorization (Category 4 and 5).
Unfortunately, there is no real solution to this predicament besides slowing climate change, something universally acknowledged as a very difficult task. It’s important to understand the danger of hurricanes and be prepared if you are in an at-risk area, which can be done using resources found on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the American Red Cross.