Future storms could have even larger impacts "if we're not wise now," Texas A&M professor Andrew Dessler says.
By the time Hurricane Ida made landfall on Sunday morning, the storm had strengthened dramatically. Picking up intensity overnight as it moved over warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, it hit the Louisiana coast as a Category 4 hurricane.
What started as a disturbance in the Atlantic Ocean quickly grew to what could be the worst hurricane to hit Louisiana since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. While scientists are uncertain whether climate change will increase the frequency of hurricanes, one thing is clear: Climate change is here, and it’s making these storms stronger and more destructive.
“Until recently, it was common to think of climate change as a problem for future generations, saying people in the future will have to deal with it,” said Andrew Dessler, a professor in the College of Geosciences at Texas A&M University. “But now it’s quite clear that we are the people of the future. The future has arrived, and we are having to deal with it now.”
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