On August 28th, hurricane Dorian made its debut as a hurricane in the Lesser Antilles region. It has since fluctuated in intensity quite sporadically between categories 2 and 5, but this particular hurricane’s volatility is a result of its persistence. The storm hung overhead of the Bahamas from September 1st to the 3rd and left thousands of people of the archipelago with uprooted homes and devastated communities. As of right now, 30 deaths have been recorded. Dorian’s wind speed of 185 miles per hour tied for the record of the largest land-falling Atlantic hurricane with 1935’s Labor Day Hurricane.

The impacts of Hurrican Dorian are frightening and raises concerns about how climate change will affect the intensity of Earth’s natural catastrophes.

Michael Mann and Andrew Dessler, Professors of Atmospheric Science at the Pennsylvania State University, discuss several ways climate change could have impacted Hurricane Dorian’s overall magnitude, rapidity in growth, and disastrous stagnation over the Bahamas.

The first impact has to do with the basic understanding of what happens when things grow in the heat. Warmer air, for example, is able to hold more moisture than cool or cold air. Because melting glaciers and ice caps around the world have contributed to higher sea levels, more intense storms are likely to be the product. In addition to Dorian’s relatively stronger winds, there are larger storm surges that will be able to reach further inland than in the years’ past. These storm surges have reached 20 feet and higher. The destruction caused by the surges and unending rain is normally what kills individuals caught in the havoc.

The increase in water at the disposal of Hurricane Dorian can also explain why the storm was able to gain momentum so quickly, going up 3 categories in only two days. This is referred to as rapid intensification, and researchers have noticed this as a pattern in the last four years. Dorian is the fifth hurricane to reach Category 5 in four years.

In addition to rapid intensification, Hurricane Dorian and several recent wind and water storms across the world have been observed to slow down their pace of movement. With a 17% decrease in recorded average hurricane speed along the east coast of the US, many are beginning to find the argument that “climate change is changing the jet stream in ways that would lead to stalling storms” to be more compelling than ever. (the above examples all came from the Guardian link previously mentioned)

The current situation is grave — one reporter, Oliver Laughland, is currently out on the Abaco Islands and has found over 1,500 people waiting for treatment at a clinic that had the capacity to deal with only around 20. Another personal account found a woman trapped on the roof of her house with her child for around 30 hours before she was able to move for a safer location. Unfortunately, while on the roof, her grandmother slipped and fell into the increasingly rising flood, ultimately drowning. Mia Mottley, Barbados’ prime minister, said in an interview, “we are on the front line of the consequences of climate change but we don’t cause it.”

Citizens should no longer suffer these damages that can amount to billion-dollar damages. If there is a way to solve this crisis–addressing climate change’s impact on natural disasters can help do so–it is only respectful for all who can to come and help the fight for a sustainable, non-hazardous future.

Advertisements

Share this: Facebook

Twitter



Leave this field empty if you're human: