Radley Horton:

Well, there's a very clear link.

And there's really three dimensions to it, to the way that human activities have increased the risks associated with these types of storms. The first is because climate change and warming has increased sea levels. And, as a result, whenever any storm hits, water levels are that much higher, just by virtue of that baseline having been raised, that gradual change in sea level.

That means more area flooded when a storm happens, and deeper, and therefore more perilous waters associated with that flood.

The second component is the amount of rainfall associated with a given storm. As we have warmed the atmosphere, as we have warmed the upper ocean, it can now hold more moisture. So, for a storm of a given strength, there's that much more moisture available to fall out in the types of catastrophic rains that we're seeing here.

The third element, which is a little less certain than those first two, is that the storms themselves can become stronger with climate change, the actual strength of the winds, the depth of the low pressure.

The balance of evidence suggests that the major hurricanes are going to become a little more frequent, a little more intense, as we further warm the atmosphere. That one's not 100 percent a sealed deal, though, at this point.