Because of climate change, hurricanes are raining harder and may be growing stronger more quickly
Two studies published in the past week have troubling implications for the effects hurricanes have on society because of climate change, now and in the future.
One directly links Hurricane Harvey’s disastrous rains to the amount of heat stored in the ocean, which was record-setting before the storm plowed into Texas last year. The other shows an increasing trend in storms that are becoming really strong, really fast.
Storms that unload more rain and explosively intensify cause more destruction and suffering, as the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season painfully made clear. Harvey, Irma and Maria each ranked among the five costliest hurricanes on record.
These studies suggest that future storms will carry even greater damage potential.
NASA