Hurricanes becoming so strong that new category needed, study says
Scientists propose new category 6 rating to classify 'mega-hurricanes', becoming more likely due to climate crisis
Introduction: Hurricanes becoming stronger due to climate crisis
According to a new study, hurricanes are becoming so strong due to the climate crisis that the classification of them should be expanded to include a “category 6” storm. The study proposes a new category 6 rating to classify 'mega-hurricanes' that are more likely to occur due to global heating, as the warming of the oceans and atmosphere increases their intensity.
Over the past decade, five storms would have been classified as category 6, including hurricanes with sustained winds of 192mph or more. Researchers have found that mega-hurricanes like these are becoming more frequent.
Michael Wehner, a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the US, explains that sustained winds of 192mph is faster than most Ferraris and is nearly unimaginable. He and another researcher, James Kossin of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, have proposed the new category 6.
The Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale and the need for a category 6
The widely used Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, developed in the early 1970s, classifies hurricanes into categories based on their sustained maximum wind speeds. Category 1 hurricanes have sustained maximum wind speeds of 74mph or more, while category 5 hurricanes have sustained maximum wind speeds of 157mph or more.
The study argues that category 5 storms, which have caused significant damage in recent years, such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Maria in 2017, are now considered to be even more extreme. This new class of storms warrants its own category, as evidenced by storms like Typhoon Haiyan in 2013 and Hurricane Patricia in 2015, which reached a top speed of 215mph near Mexico.
Increased intensity of hurricanes due to climate crisis
While the total number of hurricanes is not increasing due to the climate crisis, researchers have observed a notable increase in the intensity of major storms in the past four decades. This increase in intensity is attributed to a super-heated ocean providing extra energy for hurricanes to rapidly intensify, combined with a warmer and moisture-laden atmosphere.
The study suggests that the Saffir-Simpson scale is an imperfect measure of the dangers posed by hurricanes. The primary risks associated with hurricanes are severe rainfall and coastal flooding, not just the strong winds. Introducing a category 6 would help highlight the heightened risks brought by the climate crisis.
