Study: Atlantic hurricanes intensify rapidly due to climate change

Arabia Weather - According to a new study, Atlantic storms have become more likely to transform from weak hurricanes to major hurricanes within 24 hours as a result of climate change.

The study, published by the Study Finds website on Friday, called for the need to develop improved risk preparedness plans and communication strategies to protect communities at risk from hurricanes.

According to the US study, the risk of Category 1 storms developing into Category 3 major storms within a single day has increased significantly over the past 40 years. This indicates that hurricanes are more likely to develop rapidly along the East Coast of the United States compared to the period between 1970 and 1990.

The site indicated that hurricanes or tropical storms intensify quickly in areas with unusually warm sea surface temperatures, and that the increase in storm intensification rates is due to rising ocean temperatures due to climate change.

Dr. Andra Garner, a researcher at Rowan University in the US, conducted examinations of wind speed variations throughout the lifetime of each hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean from 1970 to 2020. She classified these hurricanes into 3 eras:

• Historical era (1970-1990)
• Middle Era (1986-2005)
• Modern era (2001-2020)

The study results, published in the journal Scientific Reports, indicated that the probability of a hurricane intensifying by 20 knots (23 mph) or more rose from 42.3% during the historical era to 56.7% in the modern era. The chance of the hurricane moving from a weak hurricane to a major hurricane within one day increased from 3.23% to 8.12%.

Researcher Garner discovered that hurricanes now tend to increase faster off the Atlantic coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea, while their probability of occurring in the Gulf of Mexico has decreased. It noted that 4 out of 5 hurricanes that caused the greatest financial damage in the Atlantic Ocean since 2017 intensified rapidly during their presence.

Source: france24