A report indicates that climate change intensified Hurricane Helene, leading to over 230 fatalities and extensive destruction in the southeastern United States. The study highlights increases in wind speeds and rainfall attributable to rising global temperatures, elevating the probability of extreme weather events in the future.
A recent report has concluded that climate change significantly intensified Hurricane Helene, which resulted in the deaths of over 230 individuals and severely damaged regions across the southeastern United States. Researchers from the World Weather Attribution noted that the rising global temperatures elevated Helene’s wind speeds and rainfall amounts, while also increasing the likelihood of the warm sea conditions that contributed to the storm’s severity by a factor of 500. Specifically, the study found that climate change raised the hurricane’s wind speeds by approximately 11 percent, equating to an increase of 13 miles per hour (21 kilometers per hour), and led to a 10 percent increase in rainfall over affected areas. Co-author Ben Clarke, a researcher at Imperial College London, cautioned during a news briefing, “All aspects of this event were amplified by climate change to different degrees. We’ll see more of the same as the world continues to warm.” Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida on September 26, achieving a record storm surge of 15 feet (4.57 meters) and winds of 140 mph (225 km/h). The storm wreaked havoc in states including Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Virginia, causing widespread destruction in remote Appalachian towns and leaving millions without essential services. Even as Helene’s aftermath is assessed, Florida is preparing for the arrival of yet another hurricane, Milton. Meteorologists estimate that Helene unleashed over 40 trillion gallons of rain, with the report emphasizing that this magnitude of rainfall would have been considerably less severe without human-induced climate change. The report states, “In today’s climate, that has already been warmed by 1.3 degrees Celsius [2.34 degrees Fahrenheit], due primarily to the burning of fossil fuels, weather observations indicate that rainfall events as severe as those brought by Hurricane Helene now occur about once every 7 (3 – 25) years in the coastal region, and about once every 70 (20 – 3000) years in the inland region.” Tragically, many of the fatalities attributed to Helene resulted from extensive inland flooding rather than high winds. The report highlights that climate change made rainfall approximately 10 percent heavier, and amplified the probability of extreme rainfall events occurring over two-day and three-day periods by 40 percent and 70 percent, respectively. Researchers issued a stark warning: if fossil fuel consumption continues to rise, leading to a global temperature increase of 2 degrees Celsius [3.6 degrees Fahrenheit] above pre-industrial averages, the occurrence of devastating rainfall events could increase by 15 to 25 percent.
The increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, have been linked to climate change as a direct consequence of rising global temperatures associated with human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels. Scientific studies demonstrate that these temperature increases lead to enhanced storm intensity and rainfall levels, contributing to more catastrophic impacts on the environment and human life.
In summary, Hurricane Helene exemplifies the alarming effects of climate change on natural disasters. The findings of the World Weather Attribution report underscore the urgent need to mitigate climate change and its associated risks. As climate conditions worsen, the likelihood of increasingly severe weather patterns will continue to pose threats to human safety and infrastructure.
Original Source: www.radiohc.cu
