“As humanity, we have left our fingerprints on each of these hurricanes.”

Hurricanes are among the most dangerous phenomena in nature. These are very deep depressions, several hundred kilometers in diameter, that form over warm ocean waters. Statistically, between June 1 and November 30 each year, approximately 14 are formed in the Atlantic storms with the potential to become hurricanes. In 2024, we have had eleven hurricanes so far, and five of them have become really powerful hurricanes (having at least category three on the five-point ascending Saffir-Simpson scale).

Scientists have been anxiously watching the impact of global warming on the intensity of hurricanes for years. The increasingly warmer waters of the Atlantic act as fuel to give tropical cyclones power.

According to the latest study, which analyzed all hurricanes occurring between 2019 and 2023, as many as 84 percent of them were strengthened by climate change. Details are presented in “Environmental Research: Climate”. The Climate Central report accompanying the publication also shows that all of this year's Atlantic hurricanes were stronger due to human activity.

Data show that since 1900, surface temperatures in the Atlantic have increased by about one degree Celsius. This seemingly small change has a huge impact on the intensity of hurricanes forming over the ocean.

“If the water temperature increases, the hurricane's spin speed also increases,” said Daniel Gilford, lead author of the report.

During the study, scientists simulated all hurricanes that occurred in recent years in conditions where no climate change occurred. The results were then compared with actual data on past disasters.

As it turned out, the warmer waters of the Atlantic Ocean caused the wind speed to increase by about 30 km/h. Perhaps 30 hurricanes were strengthened so much that they were one step higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale. This includes tropical cyclones: Lorenzo (2019), Ian (2022), Lee (2023), Milton (2024) and Beryl (2024), which were hurricanes of the fifth, highest category.

“As humanity, we have left our fingerprints on each of these hurricanes,” Gilford emphasizes, adding that we need to talk more about reducing greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change.

This year's series of hurricanes in the North Atlantic brought enormous destruction, affecting, among others, the United States, Mexico and Cuba. In August, the southeastern regions of the USA were hit by Hurricane Helene, which took the lives of over 200 people and caused damage estimated at a quarter of a billion dollars.

According to the Climate Central report, Helene's extreme winds, which reached 225 km/h, were about 26 km/h faster due to the warming of the Atlantic.

At the end of September, another hurricane named John brought downpours of up to 500 l/sq m over the southwestern regions of Mexico. Dozens of people died as a result of the disaster.

“Climate change is here,” Gilford concludes.

The latest report joins other publications describing the impact of global warming on the intensity of extreme atmospheric phenomena. At the end of August, scientists examining the effects of Typhoon Gaemi (typhoons are tropical storms in eastern and southern Asia), which hit China, Taiwan and the Philippines, concluded that it was definitely stronger due to human-induced climate change.