Climate research experts have claimed that the human induced global CO2 levels have made Hurricane Helene more powerful and significantly rainier. As the temperatures have begun to rise, due to global warming the prediction is that storms like Helene are likely to be a part and parcel for US and North America in the coming future.
Studies suggest that rainfall during the hurricane Helene was about 10 percent heavier than the average normal conditions showing a significant rise in intensity all credit goes to human being induced climate change.
The phenomenon has also made heavy rainfall up to 70 percent more likely in the central and southern Appalachia and as a result, it has led to catastrophic flooding washing away roads and destruction of houses and other property. The calamity has claimed 230 lives so far though the actual human toll will take years to calculate.
Warmer Ocean Temperatures and Tropical Storms
A key factor in the intensity of hurricanes has been the warmer ocean temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico. Sea surface temperature (SST) reached a record 85 degree Fahrenheit when the hurricane Helene was forming.
Such temperatures have been 200 to 500 times more likely to have increased due to climate change caused by human factors like increase in carbon footprint, environmental degradation due to continuous war and conflicts, burning of fossil fuels and so on.
Communities, especially those living near the shoreline and bay areas, need to get ready to adapt to this phenomenon as it’s going to increase over time as the global temperature warms up. Organisations like the Red Cross, Amnesty International, United Nations have raised red alerts time and again for increasing awareness.
