Hurricanes
The most recent hurricane season (2020 as of writing this) resulted in a record shattering 30 named storms. 12 of which made landfall on the continental United States.This was the second time in history that they ran out of the 21-name Atlantic list and had to use the greek alphabet. Hurricane seasons like this will become more common in the future because of climate change.
How does climate change create more hurricanes?
Recent activity in the Atlantic leads scientists to believe that climate change, specifically global warming, is at fault in the formation of more intensive and destructive hurricanes. By using satellite data, scientists believe that warmer waters caused by global warming provides these storms with more energy than before. Hurricanes form because warm air just above the ocean’s surface rises and creates a pocket of low pressure. That low pressure pocket is then warmed up by the ocean and rises also. Ergo, warmer waters caused by global warming will formulate stronger hurricanes.
How can we prevent even stronger hurricanes from forming?
We can’t totally prevent a hurricane from happening, they are part of nature. We can, however, reduce their intensity and effects by planning smarter. What I mean by that is by building up resilience against the strength of these storms. This can be accomplished by evaluating and designing stronger infrastructure that can resist the intense weather that a hurricane can throw at us. Also, reducing our greenhouse gas emissions is the number one way right now that we as a species should be focusing on because if we reduce our emissions, global warming will plateau and decline and hurricanes will become less intense.