Researchers from World Weather Attribution (WWA) announced that Hurricane Milton has become more intense, with heavier rain and stronger winds due to climate change.
among them flash studyWWA estimated that global warming worsened the storm's rainfall by 20 to 30 percent and increased its wind strength by 10 percent when it hit western Florida later this week.
They also found, consistent with other studies, that the frequency of hurricanes with wind speeds similar to Milton's has increased by about 40 percent, while storms with similar rarity have wind speeds nearly 8 miles per second stronger. I also discovered.
The researchers predicted that the storm likely would have made landfall as a Category 2 storm if temperatures had not warmed by about 1.3 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial averages.
The researchers also determined that ocean temperatures along the hurricane's path were more than 1 degree Celsius warmer than they would have been without climate change.
“The rise in sea surface temperatures along Hurricane Milton's path is strongly influenced by climate change, which impacts Milton's environment and increases the likelihood that the storm will develop and intensify throughout its lifetime. “We conclude that this was high,” the researchers wrote.
The hurricane also revealed logistical and infrastructure challenges that are likely to worsen if storms like Milton occur more frequently, they wrote. For example, the highways that served as the main evacuation routes for people in the hurricane's path experienced severe congestion, and many of the hotels and rental properties where people tried to evacuate are only weeks away from the effects of Hurricane Helen. Before it was fully booked.
More severe storms will also pose major financial hurdles for Americans, they write, with 37 percent of Americans unable to afford a $400 expense but not staying in a hotel during 2017's Hurricane Harvey. He pointed to research showing that the average evacuee who was forced to evacuate spent more than $2,000. .
Although the overall number of hurricanes is not expected to increase aggressively due to the effects of climate change, a growing body of research suggests that hurricanes will make existing storms more intense.
