Dangerous hurricanes are being made even worse because of climate change, study finds
A vast majority of hurricanes between 2019 and 2023 measured stronger winds.
Hurricanes are getting stronger, and humans are primarily to blame.
A new study from Climate Central adds to a growing body of evidence that human-amplified climate change is indeed leading to more intense storms.
The study, published in the journal Environmental Research: Climate, found that 84% of Atlantic hurricanes between 2019 and 2023 were, on average, 18 mph stronger because of climate change.
That additional wind speed resulted in 30 hurricanes reaching an entire category higher in strength (Category 3 to Category 4 or Category 4 to Category 5, for example) compared to a world without human-amplified climate change.
The researchers say sea surface temperatures are being made hotter by global warming, fueling these rapidly intensifying cyclones, citing Hurricane Milton as an example.
They found that Milton intensified by 120 mph in under 36 hours. At the time, ocean temperatures were at record levels or near record levels, which Climate Central's Climate Shift Index: Ocean determined were made 400 to 800 times more likely by climate change.
Over the past half-century, the ocean has stored more than 90% of the excess energy trapped in Earth’s system by greenhouse gases and other factors, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"Every hurricane in 2024 was stronger than it would have been 100 years ago," Dr. Daniel Gilford, climate scientist at Climate Central and lead author of the study and report, said in a statement. "Through record-breaking ocean warming, human carbon pollution is worsening hurricane catastrophes in our communities."
The researchers identified three storms between 2019 and 2023 that became Category 5 hurricanes, the highest level on the scale, because of the changing climate.
When the scientists applied the same study methodology to storms in 2024, they determined it was unlikely Beryl and Milton would have reached Category 5 status without the impact of climate change.
And they found that every Atlantic hurricane in 2024 saw an increased maximum wind speed, ranging from 9 to 28 mph, because human-amplified climate change resulted in elevated ocean temperatures.
Since 1980, tropical cyclones, a generic term for hurricanes and tropical storms, have cost communities $1.4 trillion in damages and claimed more than 7,200 lives, according to The National Center for Environmental Information.