Climate Change
Dec. 25th, 2025 05:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithOceans are supercharging hurricanes past Category 5
Warming oceans are fueling a surge of extreme, off-the-charts storms—so powerful that scientists say it’s time to invent a whole new hurricane category.
Deep ocean hot spots packed with heat are making the strongest hurricanes and typhoons more likely—and more dangerous. These regions, especially near the Philippines and the Caribbean, are expanding as climate change warms ocean waters far below the surface. As a result, storms powerful enough to exceed Category 5 are appearing more often, with over half occurring in just the past decade. Researchers say recognizing a new “Category 6” could improve public awareness and disaster planning.
A day late and a dollar short.
What we really need is a new system that calculates damage based on multiple factors including not only wind speed but also travel speed, rainfall, and storm surge. That will give people a better idea on what precautions to take. A "Category 1" storm can kill people if it squats in one place and pisses rain for 4 days. I've been saying for decades now that we needed a better rating system, or at least more categories for the current one.
I can't do the math for all of that, but I can look at the old wind-only chart and figure out that we have had not only Category 6 but also Category 7 hurricanes and are a few miles-per-hour short of needing Category 8. Details from my research appear in the notes for "Nature's Great Masterpiece."
Warming oceans are fueling a surge of extreme, off-the-charts storms—so powerful that scientists say it’s time to invent a whole new hurricane category.
Deep ocean hot spots packed with heat are making the strongest hurricanes and typhoons more likely—and more dangerous. These regions, especially near the Philippines and the Caribbean, are expanding as climate change warms ocean waters far below the surface. As a result, storms powerful enough to exceed Category 5 are appearing more often, with over half occurring in just the past decade. Researchers say recognizing a new “Category 6” could improve public awareness and disaster planning.
A day late and a dollar short.
What we really need is a new system that calculates damage based on multiple factors including not only wind speed but also travel speed, rainfall, and storm surge. That will give people a better idea on what precautions to take. A "Category 1" storm can kill people if it squats in one place and pisses rain for 4 days. I've been saying for decades now that we needed a better rating system, or at least more categories for the current one.
I can't do the math for all of that, but I can look at the old wind-only chart and figure out that we have had not only Category 6 but also Category 7 hurricanes and are a few miles-per-hour short of needing Category 8. Details from my research appear in the notes for "Nature's Great Masterpiece."
