‘Every hurricane in 2024 was stronger than it would have been 100 years ago’
There were 11 hurricanes in the Atlantic this year, and global warming increased their highest sustained wind speeds by 9 to 28 mph, says a new study by Climate Central.
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“Through record-breaking ocean warming, human carbon pollution is worsening hurricane catastrophes in our communities,” the researchers claim.
Higher water temperatures in the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico have been blamed for how rapidly storms intensified this year, something particularly true with Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which hit Florida’s west coast. And after initial landfall, Helene moved north and devasted western North Carolina.
Warmer oceans
“Five out of the eleven hurricanes in 2024 crossed the Gulf of Mexico where human-caused ocean warming made temperatures about 2°F hotter than they would have been in a world without it,” the researchers concluded.
In addition, “Climate change made elevated sea surface temperatures (SST) in the tracks of 2024 hurricanes up to 800 times more likely.“
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