NOAA reports and news coverage

Climate Change Intensified All 2024 Atlantic Hurricanes by 18 mph, Climate Central Study Finds

Nov 20, 2024, 03:58 PM

A new study by Climate Central published in the journal Environmental Research: Climate reveals that human-caused climate change has significantly intensified Atlantic hurricanes over the past six years. The research found that warmer ocean temperatures, resulting from climate change, have increased the maximum wind speeds of Atlantic hurricanes by an average of 18 miles per hour (29 kilometers per hour) since 2019, effectively boosting many storms by at least one category on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. For instance, Hurricane Rafael, which struck Cuba earlier this month as a Category 3 storm, would have been a Category 1 hurricane without the effects of climate change. Notably, all eleven hurricanes in the Atlantic during 2024 were intensified due to record ocean heat attributable to global warming, with wind speed increases ranging from 14 to 45 kilometers per hour. The study indicates that over 80% of storms from 2019 to 2023 experienced increased intensities, effectively doubling the destructive power in some cases, and projects that year-to-year variability in North Atlantic tropical cyclone seasons could rise by as much as 36% by 2049. These findings underscore the impact of climate change on the strength and destructive power of hurricanes affecting the Atlantic region.