US EditionClimate Change Is Making Hurricanes Like Melissa the Norm, Scientists Warn
Researchers found climate change increased Hurricane Melissa's wind speed by 7% and made such storms four times more likely, with severe economic impacts expected.
- On Tuesday, Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica as a Category 5 with 185 mph winds, tearing through Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and killing at least 40 people.
- A rapid attribution study found human-caused climate change made a Melissa-type storm four times more likely by heating oceans, which have absorbed over 90% of excess heat since 1970.
- Using the IRIS model, researchers showed a wind-speed boost of 7% and a damage increase of 12%, with waters 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit warmer aiding rapid intensification.
- AccuWeather estimates the losses at $22bn in Jamaica with roughly 400,000 affected and more than 25,000 seeking shelter, while damages across the Caribbean could total $52 billion.
- Modelled return‑period shifts show Melissa‑type storms now occur every 1,700 years, down from 8,000 pre‑industrial, and Dr Emily Theokritoff urged urgent climate finance before COP30.
13 Articles
13 Articles
Inside Climate News
Climate Change Made Hurricane Melissa Four Times More Likely, Study Suggests
Unusually warm ocean temperatures fueled one of the worst hurricanes on record. New research finds climate change increased the storm’s likelihood.By Kiley PriceFueled by unusually warm waters, Hurricane Melissa this week turned into one of the strongest Atlantic storms ever recorded. Now a new rapid attribution study suggests human-induced climate change made the deadly tropical cyclone four times more likely.
It is estimated that the cyclone will leave losses of between $7 billion and $20 billion. “It’s a reminder of how climate injustice works,” says one of its authors.
Climate change is making hurricanes like Melissa the norm, scientists warn
The unseasonably warm water that helped Hurricane Melissa grow into a Category 5 storm before it made landfall in Jamaica is likely to remain, making historically strong storms like Melissa increasingly frequent, scientists warn. Melissa is the latest example of climate change’s ability to supercharge storms with heat and moisture, producing a record-breaking and powerful hurricane. Melissa cut a path of destruction across Jamaica, Cuba and the …
The AP Gets Hurricanes Wrong, Again, Melissa’s Intensity Is Not Proof of Climate Change - ClimateRealism
In a widely published Associated Press (AP) article, “Climate change fuels Hurricane Melissa’s rapid intensification to Category 5,” reporter Sibi Arasu claims that “the warming of the world’s oceans caused by climate change helped double Hurricane Melissa’s wind speed in less than 24 hours.” This is highly misleading if not outright false. Scientific data refute claims […]
Global warming, caused by man, has increased both the probability and intensity of this hurricane, according to the study at Imperial College London.
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