Hurricanes – What’s Causing Them?
As we probably have all seen in the media, Florida is being hit with three hurricanes back to back, the most recent one being hurricane Milton which destroyed infrastructure all across Florida. From 1979-2017, the number of major hurricanes has increased and the number of smaller hurricanes has decreased. This is proving to be more costly in the forms of physical damages and deaths.
You may ask yourself, why have hurricanes increased in the past 100 years, and continue to increase? The answer is climate change. Climate change is worsening hurricane impacts in the United States by increasing the intensity and decreasing the speed at which they travel. Increased greenhouse gas, carbon emissions and fossil fuels are all major contributors to the increase in hurricanes.
There are many elements of climate change that are actively contributing to the increase in hurricanes, and damage from hurricanes. First is sea level rise. Sea level rise is making coastal storms more damaging and causing them to continue to worsen. Sea level has risen over half a foot since 1900, and is expected to rise anywhere between 1-2.5ft in this century alone. This increasing rise in sea level has led to 15-60% higher flood elevation since 1900. During hurricane Sandy, the flood risk was three times higher than it had ever been for previous hurricanes. Sea level rise is caused by climate change due to melting glaciers and icebergs, and the volume of water expanding as it warms.
Another element of climate change that impacts hurricanes is the warming of mid-latitudes. Because mid-latitudes are warming, it means that storms are occurring at higher latitudes and there is a northward shift in where storms are reaching their peak. Because of this northward shift there is an increased risk for the loss of lives, as well as property damage due to hurricanes.
When it comes to hurricanes, there are many threats involved. Some of these threats include damages to buildings, threatened infrastructure, undermined energy, water and sewer systems, trouble with transportation and flood management, and risks to public health and human lives. All of these threats are detrimental to a functioning society, and will continue to worsen with increasing hurricanes.
Although there are many negative impacts associated with hurricanes, there are ways that we can build resilience to mitigate the impacts of these hurricanes. The first and the most obvious way to mitigate the risk of hurricanes is to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, and work towards reducing climate change as much as possible. Another important way to build resilience for the reduction of harm from hurricanes is to elevate buildings that are at a potential risk for flooding. By elevating these buildings, the flood risk will greatly diminish, causing less harmful impacts from hurricanes. The last major way to help mitigate the issues caused by hurricanes is to look into designing buildings that can better withstand the harsh weather.
Hurricanes are a natural disaster that can never fully disappear, but by reducing our carbon emissions and working towards a greener planet, we can mitigate the effects of hurricanes, and lessen the amount of hurricanes as a whole.
Hurricanes and climate change. Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. (2023, July 14). https://www.c2es.org/content/hurricanes-and-climate-change/