Have Storms Gotten Worse Since Hurricane Katrina

**The Devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the Growing Threat of Intensifying Hurricanes**

On August 29, 2005, a massive hurricane, nearly the size of Texas, made landfall over New Orleans. With winds reaching 140 miles per hour, the storm unleashed devastation across the city. Storm surges demolished the levees, flooding the Big Easy with unprecedented force. The hurricane was not only destructive but also left a lingering question: will we see more storms like this in the future, and will they get even worse?

### Understanding Hurricanes: A Closer Look

Hurricanes, also known as tropical cyclones or typhoons, are enormous tropical storms that form over the oceans in equatorial regions. These powerful weather systems develop when moist, warm air from the tropics is pulled high into the atmosphere, where it cools and falls back to the surface. This cycle creates a spinning pattern that eventually leads to the formation of tropical storms.

From 1963 to 2012, half of all deaths caused by hurricanes were due to storm surges—massive walls of water pushed inland by the storm. When rainfall is factored in, this number jumps to 75%. The deadliest hurricane in U.S. history was the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which brought 156-mile-per-hour winds and caused thousands of fatalities. Despite warnings from the Weather Service, many ignored the alerts, leading to tragic losses.

### Why Are Hurricanes Getting Worse?

The phrase "worse" or "stronger" when describing storms doesn't capture the complexity of these weather phenomena. Storm intensity is influenced by factors like wind speed, storm surges, precipitation, formation time, and ground speed. However, one undeniable trend is clear: hurricanes are worsening due to climate change.

Rising sea levels contribute to larger storm surges, while warmer ocean temperatures add heat and moisture to the atmosphere—key ingredients for intensifying storms. The ocean has warmed by about a third of a degree Celsius over the past few decades. This may seem minimal, but even this small increase significantly impacts hurricane behavior. Projections suggest that global temperatures could rise by an additional 1 to 6 degrees Celsius over the next 85 years, further exacerbating the situation.

### Scientific Studies Show Intensifying Storms

Satellite-based studies reveal that hurricanes are intensifying faster today than in the 1980s. Extreme downpours have increased by 30%, and tropical storms now drop 24% more rain. From 1961 to 2010, snowstorms occurred twice as often compared to the previous century. According to NASA's Earth Observatory, precipitation has risen by 76% since 1948, encompassing both rainfall and snowfall.

A 2008 study from Florida State University found that hurricane wind speeds have increased by 11% since the 1980s. These trends highlight a concerning shift in storm behavior, driven by rising temperatures on land and sea.

### Efforts to Predict and Mitigate

To better understand these evolving storms, meteorologists rely on buoys, satellites, ground stations, and ships that monitor wind speeds, temperatures, and moisture levels globally. This data is used to model storm formation and improve forecasting accuracy. A recent study from the University of Arizona enhanced forecasting accuracy by 23% in the North Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico—regions most affected by climate change-driven storms.

### The Economic Toll of Hurricanes

From 1970 to 2002, U.S. hurricanes caused $57 billion in damage, surpassing losses from earthquakes or human-caused disasters. Hurricane Katrina alone inflicted over $100 billion in damages, ranking as the third deadliest hurricane in U.S. history. Lives, property, and livelihoods are devastated by these storms.

### The Urgent Need for Action

If no action is taken to address climate change, sea levels will continue to rise, glaciers will melt, and the impacts of hurricanes will worsen. The consequences will be as unsettling as drinking warm soda—unpleasant and unavoidable.

For more insights into the lessons learned since Hurricane Katrina, check out our friends at Test Tube News, who explored this topic in depth.

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"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enten years ago on August 29th the massive hurricane almost the size of Texas made landfall over New Orleans as 140 mile an hour winds pummeled the city storm surges smashed their levees and flooded the Big Easy the storm was awful and the response to it were still but are we going to see more storms like this in the future and then getting worse hey everyone thanks for watching dnews today I'm trace hurricanes AKA tropical cyclones aka typhoons are massive tropical storms that form over the oceans in tropical equatorial regions and then are spun out into the open ocean they form because moist warm air from the tropics gets pulled high into the atmosphere where it cools causing it to fall back to the water this cycle starts spinning and eventually a tropical storm results from 1963 to 2012 half of all deaths from storms were because of storm surge massive water pressed inland by the storm not by wind it goes up to 75 percent if you include rainfall the deadliest in US history was the Great Galveston hurricane in 1900 when a hurricane with 156 mile an hour winds slammed into Texas killing thousands Weather Service's had warned beachgoers but many ignored the warning and were lost to 15-foot storm surges that flooded the city using words like worse or stronger when you're describing a storm that's doesn't really work because there are so many factors wind speed storm surges precipitation formation time ground speed but just to keep it simple yeah storms are getting worse why you already know why because earth is warming storms are all connected to heat and the movement of that heat through the atmosphere sea level rise creates larger storm surges and ocean surface temperature increases add heat and moisture to the atmosphere all of this contributes to storm worsening but before you go and look up sea ice estimates remember physics class warm water expands the ocean is really big and molecules are really small but when they expand even a little there's just so much ocean that it is noticeable from space yes melting glaciers can compound the problem but like ice in a glass they're also keeping the oceans nice and cool the problem is we're running out of sea ice sea levels have already gone up between 4 & 8 inches in the last 100 years and are looking to go up as much as 36 in the next 100 according to NASA's Earth Observatory charged with monitoring our changing planet by satellite over the last few decades satellite based studies found hurricanes intensify faster today than they did in the 1980s that extreme downpours happened 30% more often tropical storm are dropping 24% more rain and there were twice as many snowstorms from 1961 to 2010 than from 1900 to 1960 in fact precipitation has increased 76 percent since 1948 across the board according to their data that includes both rainfall and snowfall and a 2008 study from Florida State University found hurricane wind speeds have increased 11% since the 80s look temperatures have gone up both on land and in the ocean this means it's getting warmer and wetter the ocean isn't a lot warmer only about a third of a degree Celsius overall but it doesn't take that much and if this is just one third of a degree increase imagine the problems when it goes up between 1 & 6 degrees C over the next 85 years like the EPA says it's gonna this means even more increased winds precipitation storms and so on and it's not just about hurricanes remember so no storms - a bunch of agencies are all working on understanding storms better so that we can better predict them but mainly it comes down to accurate climate modeling buoys are floating all over the ocean satellites are watching from space and ground stations and ships are all monitoring winds temperatures moisture every piece of this data can then be used to model storm formation a new study from the University of Arizona came out last March which increased forecasting accuracy by 23% in the North Atlantic in the Gulf of Mexico where the worst of climate change storms are hitting but to be honest the best we can do is get out of the way from 1970 to 2002 u.s. hurricanes cost fifty seven billion dollars that's more than earthquakes or human-caused disasters in the same period in 2005 Hurricane Katrina caused more than a hundred billion dollars in damage alone that was the third deadliest hurricane to hit the United States lives property and livelihoods are all impacted and if we do nothing sea levels are just gonna rise more our global ice is gonna melt and like drinking warm soda we're all gonna be pretty upset put it mildly if you want to know a little bit more about what we've learned in the ten years since Hurricane Katrina made landfall check out our friends over on test-tube news who covered that here the model for determining their strength specifically excluded severe storms in order to make the calculations easier it was considered the worst civil engineering disaster in the United States thanks for watching dnews everybody please subscribe so you get more science videos every single day of the week and we will see you tomorrowten years ago on August 29th the massive hurricane almost the size of Texas made landfall over New Orleans as 140 mile an hour winds pummeled the city storm surges smashed their levees and flooded the Big Easy the storm was awful and the response to it were still but are we going to see more storms like this in the future and then getting worse hey everyone thanks for watching dnews today I'm trace hurricanes AKA tropical cyclones aka typhoons are massive tropical storms that form over the oceans in tropical equatorial regions and then are spun out into the open ocean they form because moist warm air from the tropics gets pulled high into the atmosphere where it cools causing it to fall back to the water this cycle starts spinning and eventually a tropical storm results from 1963 to 2012 half of all deaths from storms were because of storm surge massive water pressed inland by the storm not by wind it goes up to 75 percent if you include rainfall the deadliest in US history was the Great Galveston hurricane in 1900 when a hurricane with 156 mile an hour winds slammed into Texas killing thousands Weather Service's had warned beachgoers but many ignored the warning and were lost to 15-foot storm surges that flooded the city using words like worse or stronger when you're describing a storm that's doesn't really work because there are so many factors wind speed storm surges precipitation formation time ground speed but just to keep it simple yeah storms are getting worse why you already know why because earth is warming storms are all connected to heat and the movement of that heat through the atmosphere sea level rise creates larger storm surges and ocean surface temperature increases add heat and moisture to the atmosphere all of this contributes to storm worsening but before you go and look up sea ice estimates remember physics class warm water expands the ocean is really big and molecules are really small but when they expand even a little there's just so much ocean that it is noticeable from space yes melting glaciers can compound the problem but like ice in a glass they're also keeping the oceans nice and cool the problem is we're running out of sea ice sea levels have already gone up between 4 & 8 inches in the last 100 years and are looking to go up as much as 36 in the next 100 according to NASA's Earth Observatory charged with monitoring our changing planet by satellite over the last few decades satellite based studies found hurricanes intensify faster today than they did in the 1980s that extreme downpours happened 30% more often tropical storm are dropping 24% more rain and there were twice as many snowstorms from 1961 to 2010 than from 1900 to 1960 in fact precipitation has increased 76 percent since 1948 across the board according to their data that includes both rainfall and snowfall and a 2008 study from Florida State University found hurricane wind speeds have increased 11% since the 80s look temperatures have gone up both on land and in the ocean this means it's getting warmer and wetter the ocean isn't a lot warmer only about a third of a degree Celsius overall but it doesn't take that much and if this is just one third of a degree increase imagine the problems when it goes up between 1 & 6 degrees C over the next 85 years like the EPA says it's gonna this means even more increased winds precipitation storms and so on and it's not just about hurricanes remember so no storms - a bunch of agencies are all working on understanding storms better so that we can better predict them but mainly it comes down to accurate climate modeling buoys are floating all over the ocean satellites are watching from space and ground stations and ships are all monitoring winds temperatures moisture every piece of this data can then be used to model storm formation a new study from the University of Arizona came out last March which increased forecasting accuracy by 23% in the North Atlantic in the Gulf of Mexico where the worst of climate change storms are hitting but to be honest the best we can do is get out of the way from 1970 to 2002 u.s. hurricanes cost fifty seven billion dollars that's more than earthquakes or human-caused disasters in the same period in 2005 Hurricane Katrina caused more than a hundred billion dollars in damage alone that was the third deadliest hurricane to hit the United States lives property and livelihoods are all impacted and if we do nothing sea levels are just gonna rise more our global ice is gonna melt and like drinking warm soda we're all gonna be pretty upset put it mildly if you want to know a little bit more about what we've learned in the ten years since Hurricane Katrina made landfall check out our friends over on test-tube news who covered that here the model for determining their strength specifically excluded severe storms in order to make the calculations easier it was considered the worst civil engineering disaster in the United States thanks for watching dnews everybody please subscribe so you get more science videos every single day of the week and we will see you tomorrow\n"