Record rising ocean temperatures have increased the maximum wind speeds of all Atlantic hurricanes in 2024, according to a study released Wednesday, confirming that global warming amplifies the destructive power of storms.
This study by the American research institute Climate Central reveals that the 11 hurricanes of the year intensified by 14 to 45 kilometers per hour.
“Emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases have influenced sea surface temperatures around the world,” said study author Daniel Gilford in an exchange with the press.
In the Gulf of Mexico, these emissions raised sea surface temperatures about 1.4 degrees Celsius higher than they would have been in a world without climate change.
This increase fuels more powerful hurricane winds. Phenomena like Debby and Oscar quickly went from tropical storms to real hurricanes.
Hurricanes like Milton and Beryl have moved up a category on the Saffir-Simpson scale, from 4 to 5, due to climate change. Another hurricane, Hélène climbed from category 3 to 4.
And this reclassification is not anecdotal: each move to a higher category corresponds to an approximately four-fold increase in the destructive potential.
Particularly devastating, Hélène caused more than 200 victims, the second deadliest hurricane to hit the American continent in more than half a century, behind Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
According to another study by Climate Central, between 2019 and 2023, 84% of hurricanes were significantly strengthened by warming oceans due to human activity.
Although both of their studies focused on the Atlantic basin, the researchers say their methods can be applied to tropical cyclones on a global scale.
And climatologists warn: the effects are likely to worsen as temperatures rise beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius.
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