Climate change increasing danger from tropical storms
By Andra Garner / Los Angeles Times
Hurricane Otis — which killed at least 48 people after hitting Mexico’s southern coast in October — adds to a destructive hurricane season that battered the Atlantic and the Eastern Pacific basins. The Atlantic has had a particularly busy year. It’s seen the likes of not only Idalia and Lee but also 17 other named storms thus far, bringing the total well above the average of 14 named storms in the season, which typically lasts from June through November.
Four of the year’s biggest storms hit avariety of locations: Hilary made landfall in the Baja peninsula before traversing California and Nevada; Otis landed in Acapulco; Idalia affected the U.S. Southeast; and Lee reached New England and Canada. Runoff from Hilary temporarily formed a salt lake in Death Valley, and winds from Idalia brought flamingos as far north as Ohio and Pennsylvania. But all these storms also had one glaring similarity; they strengthened unusually quickly as they traveled over exceptionally warm waters.
Hurricanes require certain conditions to form and thrive. One of the most important conditions is warm ocean waters, which are a critical source of fuel for strengthening hurricanes. They allow warm, moist air to rise rapidly through the atmosphere, where that energy translates into violent thunderstorm activity. Hurricanes need water temperatures of at least 78.8 degrees Farenheit; the ocean waters Hilary, Idalia, Lee and Otis traveled over as they strengthened fastest were much warmer; about 86 degrees Fahrenheit.
As humans have warmed the planet by burning fossil fuels, we have made it more likely for those extra-warm ocean waters to occur: About 90 percent of the excess heating from human activity has gone into our oceans. The rate at which our oceans warm has also accelerated; on average, ocean surface temperatures increased by about 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit in 2011-20 compared with 1850-1900. About two-thirds of that warming happened in just the last four decades.
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-climate-change-increasing-danger-from-tropical-storms/
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