Hurricanes will become stronger and strike more often on the U.S. Gulf and lower East coasts, according to new research led by scientists at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, who explored the influence of global warming on the damaging storms.
Hurricanes will become stronger and strike more often on the U.S. Gulf and lower East coasts, according to new research led by scientists at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, who explored the influence of global warming on the damaging storms. Should current warming trends continue, they caution, landfalling hurricane frequency could rise by a third compared to current levels.
In a paper published today in the journal Science Advances, researchers describe a previously unknown mechanism that fuels escalating risk to coastal residents.
Changes in the winds of Earth’s upper atmosphere—induced by a warming sea surface in the Eastern Pacific Ocean—are responsible for the projected boost in hurricane frequency in the coastal regions.
Read more at: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Hurricanes are among the most damaging and persistent natural hazards. In the United States, only a few hurricanes make landfall each year. But new work led by PNNL scientists finds that a warmer world could bring more frequent, stronger hurricanes and, with them, added risk to coastal residents. (Photo Credit: Melanie Hess-Robinson | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
