Hurricane Ian: Destruction Attributed to Climate Change

Posted: October 4, 2022 11:03 am

Hurricane Ian roared into Florida with unprecedented strength with winds so strong they destroyed homes before the system even made landfall. The hurricane escalated in strength to a point just a couple of miles shy of Category 5 status, and the storm immediately generated record-level storm surges, power failures and destruction. That makes Ian an excellent example of the latest trend in hurricanes — becoming more powerful as a result of climate change, more specifically as a result of global warming.

Climate Can Influence Hurricane Development

Scientists have identified a disturbing trend over the past few years of hurricanes having increased wind speeds and slower speeds of travel. These factors increase the storm’s intensity and severity because higher wind speeds do greater damage and slower movement results in hurricanes battering a given area for a longer time. The end result is more damaging and deadly storms.

Climate change, or more precisely global warming, increases a storm’s wind speeds by providing a greater reserve of energy. The temperature and depth of the warmer surface layer of ocean water serves as a battery that fuels the storm. The warmer the water, the greater the potential energy will be.

Ideally, the water temperature must be at least 79-degrees Fahrenheit, or hurricanes will not develop or last very long. The warmer the temperature and deeper the heat penetrates, the stronger any resulting storm will be. Scientists remain uncertain about whether warmer ocean waters generate more hurricanes, but the evidence clearly shows that warmer waters generate more deadly and devastating storms.

Is Global Warming Responsible for Monster Storms Like Ian?

The short and simple answer is yes. Evidence obtained and published by c2es.org compared the intensity of tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic Basin between the years 1966 to 2009. During the period, there were an average of 11 named tropical storms, and six of those became hurricanes.

The above averages were in the normal range, but increasingly warmer waters were noted. During this period, the storms became very intense and more destructive than usual. The study basically charted strength, duration and frequency.

Contributory Evidence

The following contributory evidence is also considered relevant to the conclusion that global warming nurtures more destructive storms:

• Warmer Sea Surfaces
  The years between 1979 and 2017 showed definite increases in average ocean surface temperatures that intensify the wind speed of hurricanes. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts a greater number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes based on the evidence.
  
• Warmer Temperatures Cause Wetter Storms
  Warmer temperatures also enable storms to hold more water, so hurricanes in the past few years have been wetter. Wetter hurricanes cause dangerous flooding and increase drowning deaths.
  
  Recent floods were devastating from Hurricane Harvey in 2017, which dumped up to 60 inches of rain in some areas. Hurricane Florence rained 35 inches in 2018, and Hurricane Imelda dumped 44 inches of rain in 2019 to contribute to vast flooding.
  
• Increased Sea Surges
  The sea level has risen half a foot since 1900, and that increases the dangers of storm surges. Hurricane Ian set records for the highest sea surges. Global warming expands water, which makes the water rise higher based on greater displacement.
  
  Warmer water also melts more of the glacier sheets and polar caps each year, which contributes directly to the rising sea level. Rising sea levels make hurricanes produce greater storm surges and more flooding. Wetter hurricanes mean more rainfall to make the dangers of flash floods even greater.
  
• Most Expensive Hurricanes
  The most dangerous hurricanes become the most expensive in terms of lives lost, property damage and preventative and safety operation expenses. The most expensive hurricane ever was Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which cost more than $186 billion in 2022 dollars, primarily because of the costs associated with levee failure.
  
  Hurricane Ian ranks second based on incomplete estimates of $60 billion in damages, and the next four in ranking occurred between 2017 and 2018. Increased coastal development is certainly responsible for some but not all of these higher costs.

Dealing with Increasingly Powerful Hurricanes

Global warming is responsible for increased costs and greater threats from tropical storms and hurricanes. As a result, people should take more care in planning family strategies for survival when hurricanes threaten their areas. Hurricanes often change direction at a moment’s notice, but it’s important not to wait until the last minute to make a family plan if you live in an area where tropical storms are common.

Global warming is a fact confirmed by science and common sense. One of the most basic tenets of physics states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Almost all industrial and mechanical processes generate heat, and the result is an inevitable increase in temperature. According to a national report of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ocean temperature has increased .14 degrees Fahrenheit each decade since 1880.

However, that’s accelerating as the world grows increasingly dependent on automated processes and less on human labor. As a result, the increase has been accelerating since 1981 to .32 degrees Fahrenheit each decade. Fighting climate change is another post topic to explore about how people can make a big difference by changing certain habits.

Warmer Seas Generate Monster Storms

By all accounts, Hurricane Ian developed into a monster storm in a mostly predictable way. The only thing that wasn’t predicted was the storm’s slight change of direction to make a second U.S. landfall after leaving Florida. However, scientists definitely predicted that the tropical storm would again reach hurricane level.

Understanding Hurricanes Is Important

No matter where you live, it’s important to understand the possible risks and threats of a hurricane in your area. Hurricanes are low-pressure storm systems that generally feature thunder, lightning, high wind and torrential rain.

These storms are called hurricanes when they surpass certain wind speeds in the Atlantic Ocean. They’re called typhoons when they originate in the Pacific Ocean. Regardless of name, all these storms are called cyclonic storms and feature cyclone action around a storm center.

Smaller cyclones, often called twisters, can spin off from hurricanes and tropical storms. Weaker tropical cyclones are referred to as tropical depressions or tropical storms. Storms with wind speeds higher than 74 mph become Category 1 hurricanes, and the rankings range from 1 to 5 based on storm intensity based on what is called the Saffir-Simpson rating.

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