Does Climate Change Make Hurricanes Worse? Anyone Disagree?

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About 20% of Americans are either climate deniers or aren’t sure about humans’ effects on the climate. Hurricane Milton helped knock down those shaky assumptions. A chorus of experts said the storm was made much worse and may have been entirely caused by the climate crisis.

*Hurricane Analysis

*Wildfires And Hurricanes At The Same Time

*Challenge Of Flood Insurance

One scientist said that the number of hurricanes may not change, but their violence will.

“The total number of hurricanes is not expected to change, but the number of very strong hurricanes (category 4 or 5) is. Hurricanes require a moist atmosphere, warm ocean temperature and little wind shear.” Karsten Haustein, a climate scientist at Leipzig University, told the FT.

“This study (from World Weather) has confirmed what should already be abundantly clear: climate change is supercharging storms, and burning fossil fuels is to blame. Millions of people across Florida – many of whom lack insurance – now face astronomical costs to rebuild shattered homes and communities,” Ian Duff of the environmental nonprofit Greenpeace said to Reuters.

Storms In India And Africa

The problem is broader than the comments indicate. Across other parts of the world, storms similar to these hit the US, the Caribbean, and Mexico are relatively common. The Met Office of the UK states, “Tropical cyclones also occur in various parts of the Pacific Ocean, and can affect coastal regions of Mexico, southeast Asia, northeast Australia and the south Pacific islands. Those that form in the Indian Ocean can affect India, Bangladesh, northwest Australia, some parts of east Africa and Indian Ocean islands such as Mauritius and Madagascar.”

Florida’s storms are the tip of a much larger iceberg.