In six years there have been six historic hurricanes in the continental United States, all which intensified quickly before making landfall. Climate change helped fuel them.
Rising global air temperatures also mean that waters, especially in bodies like the bathub-esque Gulf of Mexico, are warming beyond just their surface. The deeper that warmth goes, the more fuel can flow to a slow-moving storm like Ian. The warm seawater evaporates and pumps moisture into the air, which can recondense into storms, clouds and rain.
Wind shear has been relatively low in the western Atlantic since 2017, a factor that has contributed to the flurry of tropical cyclones since then,. It’s possible that in the long run, climate change could make this environmental condition more common. Scientists hypothesize that the jet stream, which creates strong wind shear, could be pushed north as global temperatures rise.
For example, while Hurricane Ian took a similar path, and with a similar intensity, as Hurricane Charley in 2004, Charley blew into Florida at 20 mph, while Ian only moved half as fast. That allowed Ian to dump as much as 20 inches of rain along its path, according to early estimates, already more than twice Charley’s rainfall.
“It just seems like the whole atmosphere is getting more sluggish, and consequently, the storms that are carried in it are moving more slowly,” Kossin said.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Starz Becomes Lionsgate+ Outside of United States and CanadaStarz is set to become Lionsgate+ outside of the United States and Canada. The network announced [...]
Read more »
US official beats Russia to take over UN telecom agency overseeing internetA top United States official won the majority vote to head the United Nations's leading agency for handling telecommunications and tech infrastructure standards.
Read more »
In 33 states, loopholes exempt clergy from reporting child sex abuseThis loophole has resulted in an unknown number of predators being allowed to continue abusing children for years despite having confessed the behavior to religious officials. In many of these cases, the privilege has been invoked to shield religious groups from civil and criminal liability after the abuse became known to civil authorities.
Read more »
17% of voters in 4 U.S. swing states hold digital assets, poll findsCrypto industry VC firm Haun Ventures released the results of a swing-state voter poll on Thursday.
Read more »
Six Republican-led states sue Biden administration over student loan debt reliefThe states argue that Biden’s plan is “not remotely tailored to address the effects of the pandemic on federal student loan borrowers,” as required by the 2003 federal law that the administration is using as legal justification.
Read more »
States get final OK to build highway electric vehicle charging networkAll 50 states received final approval Tuesday to begin construction on a first nationwide network of EV charging stations that places one roughly every 50 miles along interstate highways.
Read more »