Dorian rapidly intensified to become a Category 5. In fact, Dorian is one of the strongest storms to make landfall ever recorded in the Atlantic, and it's the strongest storm ever to hit the Bahamas. And warmer ocean water and air means this rapid intensification is happening more frequently.

The increasing number of strong storms like Dorian is also linked to climate change. Dorian became the fifth Category 5 storm formed in the Atlantic in just the last four years, and climate researchers have warned that Category 4 and 5 storms “could become nearly twice as common over the next century as a result of climate change, even as the total number of storms declines.”

Dorian stalled over the Bahamas for about two days, a troubling new trend that researchers have cautiously attributed to a shift in atmospheric circulation patterns due to climate change. According to Bob Berwyn of InsideClimate News: