As global average temperatures rise, the atmosphere will hold on to greater quantities of water, meaning hurricanes could unleash stronger torrents of rain. Stronger storm surge and devastating impacts on coastal areas are predicted due to sea levels rising. Knutson says that they have high confidence that sea level rise is going to continue and that will make any situation like the one in Florida worse.
Climatologists agree that the intensity of hurricanes will increase as global temperatures rise, and that there is a good chance that they have already begun to do so. The percentage of hurricanes that reach Category 3 or higher has increased since 1980.
Even if nations make good on their commitments, we are likely to reach 2 degrees Celsius of global warming, a scenario in which coastal areas in hurricane prone regions will face an unprecedented crisis. Sea level rise will be a general problem, but it will be a particular threat during extreme weather events, leading to more violent storm surge and overland flooding that will cripple infrastructure and squeeze local and national resources.
Marshall Shepherd, a former president of the American Meteorological Society, said that the threat of tropical storms is a reality that can no longer be ignored. He says that these aren't natural disasters anymore. The fact that we keep placing human infrastructure and people in the path of hurricanes means that we can't see them as freak occurrences.
The sixth-fastest-growing area in the country from 2020 to 2021. The coastline has little thought to rising sea levels or an increased likelihood of extreme weather. To protect infrastructure from the most intense hurricanes, walls need to be at least 300 feet in height, which is more than the value of the property being protected. There needs to be realistic and smart growth solutions going forward.
What realistic and smart growth will actually look like may be a bitter pill to swallow for those living in coastal areas. Rob Young is the director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines and he says we need to change how we rebuild in the wake of storms. Young says that there are areas that shouldn't be put back in. It is hard to make that call after an emergency when everyone is just trying to get back to normal.
He says that the destruction of Mexico Beach, Florida, by Hurricane Michael, which hit with 155 mph winds and a 17-foot storm surge, is an example. The town had a plan to raise homes at least 18 feet off the ground. They are still constructing in a flood zone. We don't have the right incentives or disincentives to change the economy in Florida or anywhere else.
Hurricanes and tropical cyclones will become stronger and deadlier regardless of whether or not people reconsider where and how they live. Humans will respond to the threat in a different way.
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