Hurricanes are becoming faster than Ferraris, due to climate change

Hurricanes are growing more strong due to the climate crisis, prompting a suggestion to expand the categorization to introduce a “category 6” designation beyond the conventional 1 to 5 scale, as indicated by a recent study.

New hurricanes reached over 300km/h

In the last decade, five storms would have qualified as this newly proposed category 6 intensity, encompassing hurricanes with sustained winds reaching 300kmh or higher, according to researchers. The increased likelihood of such mega-hurricanes is attributed to global warming, with studies revealing the impact of rising temperatures on oceans and the atmosphere.

Michael Wehner, a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the US, remarked that “300kmh is probably faster than most Ferraris, it’s hard to even imagine.” He, along with another researcher, James Kossin of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has put forth the idea of introducing the new category 6. Wehner emphasized the severity of being caught in such a hurricane, stating, “Being caught in that sort of hurricane would be bad. Very bad.”

The study proposes an extension to the widely utilized Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, created in the early 1970s by civil engineer Herbert Saffir and meteorologist Robert Simpson, who served as the director of the US National Hurricane Center. The scale presently categorizes any hurricane with a sustained maximum wind speed of 120kmh or higher as a category 1 event, with higher categories indicating faster wind speeds. Categories 3 and above are deemed major hurricanes posing significant threats to property and lives, with the most intense, category 5, encompassing storms reaching speeds of 250kmh or more.

Category 6 hurricanes already existed in the past

Recent years have witnessed the devastating impacts of Category 5 storms, exemplified by Hurricane Katrina’s destruction of New Orleans in 2005 and Hurricane Maria’s catastrophic effects on Puerto Rico in 2017. The new study contends that an even more extreme class of storms now exists.

Notable examples of these extreme storms include Typhoon Haiyan, responsible for over 6,000 casualties in the Philippines in 2013, and Hurricane Patricia, which attained a staggering top speed of 350kmh near Mexico in 2015.

According to Wehner, while the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico haven’t experienced Category 6 storms yet, the conditions conducive to their formation exist, and it’s a matter of luck that none have occurred. He emphasized that these storms have become more intense and will likely continue to do so.

Despite the climate crisis not increasing the total number of hurricanes, the study reveals a significant rise in the intensity of major storms over the four-decade satellite record. A super-heated ocean, coupled with a warmer, moisture-laden atmosphere, provides additional energy for rapid hurricane intensification.

Introducing a new category will reduce the risks

Wehner acknowledged the imperfection of the Saffir-Simpson scale in assessing the dangers posed by hurricanes, underlining that the primary risks arise from severe rainfall and coastal flooding rather than the strong winds themselves. Introducing a Category 6, he argues, would underscore the heightened risks associated with the climate crisis.

The study aims to raise awareness of climate change’s impact on the most intense storms. While no official indication suggests the immediate classification of hurricanes as Category 6, adjustments to monitoring systems have been made before to reflect the evolving nature of the modern era, as seen in Australia’s addition of the colour purple to weather maps and the US Coral Reef Watch program incorporating new alert categories to address increasing heat stress on corals.