“You could say that climate change is rolling the dice,” Wing added. “Very different scenarios are still possible for each storm, but the probability of a very intense one is higher.”
Climate change may also increase the amount of rain that hurricanes bring, according to Andrew Kruczkiewicz, a fellow at Columbia University’s Institute for Research on Climate and Society.
“The hotter the atmosphere, the greater the water absorption capacity,” which may mean more precipitation, the expert said. People who have fled inland to escape a hurricane could continue to face extreme conditions, he added.
Rainfall during Hurricane Ian in September 2022 increased by at least 10% due to climate change, according to recent research.
Longer hurricane seasons
In addition to the intensity of the storms, the season in which they occur seems to be getting longer and longer.
According to Mann, the period when ocean surface temperatures favor tropical storm formation is starting earlier and ending later. This seems to be the case in both the Atlantic and the Bay of Bengal in Asia.
Much research shows that climate change makes hurricanes more dangerous, but its effect on their frequency is less clear, and more research is needed to understand it.