Late September, Helene was the first to strike Florida as a Category 4 hurricane. Just 2 weeks after the Floridians dealt with this disaster, Hurricane Milton came crashing in, leaving even more carnage around the state. In total, around 250 people have lost their lives and thousands of homes have been destroyed.
At first glance, this can just seem like a case of bad luck as Florida are already known to be victim to more hurricanes. They have more than doubled the amount that Texas (the next most hurricane prone state) is victim to. However, after scientists dove into this more, they figured out that it isn't all due to chance. Climate change is influencing storm dynamics and is likely the reason why these two hurricanes ended up as serious as they were.
Ocean temperatures are rising, which is a result of fossil fuel emissions. Hurricanes thrive in moist, warm ocean environments and although this rise in ocean temperature is not changing the expected amount of hurricanes, it is making hurricanes more violent and changing what would be small Category 2 hurricanes into a Category 4 or 5. Milton in particular quickly gained strength over the Gulf of Mexico, turning into a Category 5 hurricane. The high sea surface temperatures around the Gulf drove Milton to intensify, but by the time it reached land, it had decreased to be Category 3.
The greenhouse gases within Earths system trap more energy from the sun, which the ocean then absorbs. In the last 50 years, our ocean has absorbed over 90% of the warming happening on Earth. Since the pre-industrial era, our sea surface temperature has increased by 0.9°C. This number may seem quite small, but even a slight shift like this can have devastating effects, including the intensification of hurricanes, something we have now witnessed first hand.
If no action is taken, sea surface temperatures will keep rising. With hurricanes as frightening as Helene and Milton already occurring, how much more intense will they become if sea surface temperatures increase further?
