Climate change boosted Hurricane Melissa's destructive winds and rain, analysis finds

By&nbspISABELLA O'MALLEY&nbspwith&nbspAP

Published on 06/11/2025 - 11:50 GMT+1

Human-caused ambiance alteration boosted nan destructive winds and rainfall unleashed by Hurricane Melissa and accrued nan temperatures and humidity that fueled nan storm, according to an study released Thursday.

Melissa was 1 of nan strongest Atlantic hurricanes to make landfall and brought destructive upwind to Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic and Cuba, causing dozens of deaths crossed nan Caribbean. Roofs were torn disconnected of homes, hospitals were damaged, roads were blocked by landslides and harvest fields were ruined.

The accelerated study by World Weather Attribution recovered that ambiance alteration accrued Melissa’s maximum upwind speeds by 7 per cent and made nan rainfall 16 per cent much intense.

The scientists besides wrote that nan somesthesia and humidity successful which nan large wind intensified were made six times much apt owed to ambiance alteration compared to a pre-industrial world.

Warmer waters and humid aerial gave Melissa other fuel

Rapid attribution analyses are a type of investigation that study factors influencing an extreme upwind event and research what nan arena would person been for illustration successful a world without ambiance change. They are typically published days aliases weeks aft an utmost upwind event.

Melissa slow tracked crossed nan region and drew successful tremendous amounts of power from abnormally lukewarm water water. The study reported water temperatures successful Melissa’s way done nan Caribbean were astir 1.4°C warmer compared to a pre-industrial climate.

“Warmer water temperatures are efficaciously nan motor that drives a hurricane … nan warmer nan water temperatures, nan greater nan upwind velocity a hurricane tin have,” said Theodore Keeping, a ambiance intelligence who useful for WWA and contributed to nan analysis.

Melissa is nan 4th storm successful nan Atlantic this twelvemonth to acquisition accelerated intensification, which is erstwhile a tropical cyclone’s maximum sustained winds summation by astatine slightest 30 knots (about 35 mph aliases 56 kph) successful 24 hours.

Rapid intensification increases harm successful a warming world

“A hurricane this uncommon would really person had upwind speeds astir 16 kph little extreme” successful a pre-industrial climate, said Keeping. He said investigation links hurricane upwind speeds to economical harm and location would person been little demolition caused by Melissa if nan winds were slower.

Scientists person linked accelerated intensification of hurricanes successful nan Atlantic to human-caused climate change. Planet-warming gases released by humans, specified arsenic c dioxide, origin nan ambiance to clasp much h2o vapor and summation water temperatures. Warmer oceans springiness hurricanes substance to unleash much rainfall and fortify much quickly.

“It’s for illustration fundamentally taking a sponge and wringing it out, and ambiance alteration is making that sponge moreover larger,” said Brian Tang, a professor of atmospheric subject astatine University astatine Albany.

Tang, who was not progressive successful nan WWA research, said nan methodology of nan study released Thursday seems robust, and 1 of nan much caller aspects of nan study was nan relationship nan scientists drew betwixt wind speeds and summation successful damage, which he said is simply a challenging area of research.

Andrew Dessler, professor of atmospheric sciences astatine Texas A&M University, who was not progressive successful nan WWA research, said nan findings of nan accelerated study are successful statement pinch existing research astir ambiance alteration and tropical storms successful nan Atlantic.

“This is wholly accordant pinch our anticipation of what’s going to hap successful nan future,” Dessler said.

Studies supply a 'quick look' astatine ambiance change’s domiciled successful disasters

Rapid attribution analyses thief capable nan request for an mentation astir nan power of ambiance alteration soon aft a catastrophic upwind arena occurs, said Dessler.

He said specified analyses are “very valuable arsenic a speedy look” earlier nan scientists are capable to do much time-consuming calculations.

Dessler said 1 of nan scariest aspects of Melissa was nan storm's highest sustained winds of 298 kph winds. “That’s beautiful uncommon to person a large wind that strong. And I deliberation that, to nan grade that this is simply a harbinger of nan future, it’s not good,” he said.