Hurricane Milton hit the US state of Florida in the category 3 category on Wednesday, October 9, with winds reaching 160 kilometers per hour, which put severe pressure on the coast that is still devastated by Hurricane Helen.
The situation still constitutes a major emergency, as several areas recorded severe amounts of rain, prompting the US National Weather Service to warn of flash floods, and power was cut off to more than two million homes and businesses in the state of Florida.
The death toll from Hurricane Milton has not yet been announced, but on the other hand, Hurricane Helen was incredibly devastating, reaching Category 4 with winds reaching 210 kilometers per hour, causing massive flooding, and at least 45 people died. Power was cut off to more than 4.5 million people in 6 states, with damage worth billions of dollars.
The risks are increasing
Of course, this is hurricane season in that region of the world, but years ago hurricane research centers recorded a new record, as it happened for the first time that two hurricanes met together, each with a speed exceeding 240 kilometers per hour. They are Hurricanes Irma and Jose, which struck the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in October 2017.
Irma had single-handedly set a new record by continuing to strike at speeds approaching 300 kilometers per hour for more than 65 consecutive hours, thus breaking a previous disastrous record of Hurricane Allen in Mexico by continuing at its peak stage for only 18 hours.
The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes – those with wind speeds greater than 200 to 250 km per hour – has increased from an average of 10 hurricanes per year in the 1970s to 18 hurricanes per year in the 1990s.
But why have hurricanes evolved to become more powerful and destructive? Scientists believe that climate change plays a major role in this matter. It is not possible, of course, to determine whether a particular hurricane was affected by climate change, but in general it seems that this is what is happening.
This happens in all regions hit by hurricanes in the world, especially the northwestern Atlantic Ocean (the United States), the Caribbean and Central America, as well as the northwestern Pacific Ocean, including countries such as Japan, China, and the Philippines, in addition to a number of other separate regions overlooking… On the world’s oceans.
3 agents
There are three basic factors linking climate change and the intensity of hurricanes. The first of them is related to the rise in the temperature of the water surface in the world’s seas and oceans, and what links it to hurricanes is simply that any hurricane derives its energy from that heat, which it uses to fuel its huge machine.
Therefore, it has become certain for us that as the average temperature in the world rises (the degree of global warming), we become vulnerable to hurricanes, because the ocean waters become hotter, and this may explain the increasing destructive impact of Hurricane Irma in particular, which originated in an area of the ocean whose surface temperature rose by a degree. One percentage point above the average.
The second factor that intervenes in this relationship is related to sea level rise, and a study published in the journal BNAS indicates a close connection between sea level rise and the degree of strength and catastrophic hurricanes in many places.
This happens because rising sea levels allow hurricanes to push more water onto shore during storms, leading to more severe flooding. As sea levels rise, the ocean absorbs more heat, so ocean temperatures rise.
This increases the rates of major hurricanes that occur at a rate of “once a century” to “once every 10 years.” Also, with the sea and ocean encroaching on coastal cities, the risk of hitting those coasts with catastrophic hurricanes increases at great rates.
The third factor that helps raise the amount of potential floods due to hurricanes to catastrophic numbers is related to the rise in air temperature, as higher air temperature helps it withstand greater degrees of humidity. According to the Clausius-Clapeyron equation, average humidity rises by 3% for every 0.5 degree Celsius rise in weather temperature, which is approximately 7% more than the current global situation in which temperatures have risen by more than a degree.
This increase in humidity means a similar increase in the amount of rain falling during the hurricane, which causes unprecedented floods.
Additional problems
In this context, scientists have observed a number of worrying phenomena. For example, hurricanes are now more susceptible to rapid intensification, which means that they can intensify at a speed of more than 56 km/hour in less than 24 hours. This rapid intensification of the hurricane makes it more dangerous because it gives communities less time. To prepare for harsh conditions.
This phenomenon is becoming more common because warmer waters and favorable weather conditions provide a surge of energy, causing storms to develop into powerful hurricanes very quickly.
Recent studies indicate that hurricanes move more slowly than they used to, meaning they spend more time in one place, dumping more rain and causing prolonged flooding.
In addition, global warming affects wind patterns around the world, allowing more hurricanes to form, increase their strength, and last longer.
As global temperatures rise, hurricane season starts earlier than usual and lasts longer, giving storms more time to form and strengthen.
In the end, although research teams may differ in the strength of this or that factor in influencing hurricanes, they all agree that hurricanes are more powerful primarily because the oceans have become warmer due to climate change, and with them the atmosphere, and this poses an increasing threat to societies. coastal areas and requires better planning and adaptation strategies to reduce potential impacts.
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