Hurricane Milton was intensified by human-driven climate change, say scientists

The intensity of the deadly hurricane that hit Florida this week and left millions without power was worsened by human-driven climate change, a group of international scientists has found, Report informs referring to the Financial Times.

Global warming made the winds associated with Hurricane Milton about 10 percent stronger and increased rainfall by 20-30 percent, according to a rapid analysis by the World Weather Attribution group. Milton, which made landfall in Florida’s Sarasota County as a category 3 storm, is the second hurricane to hit the southern US in a fortnight and triggered tornadoes across the state. It comes after Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc across several south-eastern states two weeks ago, killing more than 225 people and destroying roads across western North Carolina.

Scientists have found that climate change is increasing the intensity of hurricanes. Higher ocean temperatures caused by global warming also allows storms to pick up more moisture, which is released as rain when they move over land. “The total number of hurricanes is not expected to change, but the number of very strong hurricanes (category 4 or 5) is,” said Karsten Haustein, a climate scientist at Leipzig University. “Hurricanes require a moist atmosphere, warm ocean temperature and little wind shear.”

Haustein said Milton had been the “perfect example” of the tendency of hurricanes to “grow stronger quicker” as the planet warms. But on Thursday, the Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, pushed back on the connection between global warming and hurricanes. “There is nothing new under the sun, this is something the state has dealt with for its entire history,” he said.