Have you seen the incredible damage done by Hurricane Helene? Well, some experts believe it’s part of a wider trend…and that the weather is going to get worse.
Climate change, some scientists say, is making hurricanes like Hurricane Helene more intense, and scientific research shows this trend is expected to continue. Helene, which made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm, has already caused widespread destruction, with over 40 reported deaths across four states. The storm follows closely on the heels of Hurricane Beryl, a Category 5 hurricane that devastated the Caribbean and parts of the U.S. just months earlier.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a leading climate science body, warns that the frequency of intense hurricanes—Categories 4 and 5—will increase as global temperatures rise. Additionally, peak wind speeds in these storms are expected to become stronger.
Claudia Benitez-Nelson, a climate scientist at the University of South Carolina, explains that warmer global temperatures lead to more energy being transferred from the ocean to the atmosphere, fueling hurricanes. “Hurricanes are big balls of energy,” she said, and the extra energy from warmer oceans makes storms like Helene more powerful.
Tom Knutson, a senior scientist at NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Lab, adds that if the planet warms by 3.6°F (2°C) above preindustrial levels, hurricane wind speeds could increase by 5%. The rapid intensification of hurricanes is another concerning trend. Hurricane Helene intensified from a Category 1 to a Category 4 storm in less than a day, largely due to unusually warm ocean waters.
Climate change is not only affecting wind speeds but also increasing rainfall during hurricanes. Warmer air holds more moisture, leading to storms that produce heavier rainfall. Knutson points out that each degree Celsius (1.8°F) of regional sea surface warming results in a 7% increase in rainfall. This means more flooding, often in areas ill-prepared for such intense storms.
The rising sea levels, another consequence of climate change, amplify the damage caused by storm surges, as higher baseline water levels combine with hurricane-driven surges to increase flooding risks.
Looking forward, experts like Benitez-Nelson emphasize the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate these worsening effects of climate change. Reducing emissions, she says, is critical to preventing even more intense and destructive hurricanes in the future.
