Climate change increased the maximum wind speeds of every Atlantic hurricane that formed this year, scientists have found. All 11 storms intensified between 9 and 28 miles per hour under the influence of warmer-than-average ocean temperatures.
The extra juice pushed seven storms at least one category higher than they would have been without the influence of climate change. And Hurricanes Debby and Oscar likely would have remained tropical storms in a world without global warming.
The new analysis was released Wednesday morning by researchers from the climate science and communications nonprofit Climate Central. It’s the latest study to warn of the dangers of intensifying hurricanes in a warmer world.
“We know climate change is increasing the temperatures around the planet,” said lead study author Daniel Gilford, a climate scientist with Climate Central. “We know temperatures in the ocean, and in the Atlantic Ocean in particular, are getting warmer. So now we can estimate what does that mean for hurricane intensities.”
