Hurricane Fiona, typhoons part of wetter storms caused by climate change
Hurricane Fiona and two typhoons are part of a pattern scientists say is caused by climate change. Storms are becoming more intense as the weather warms.
Powerful storms battered three disparate, far-flung corners of the planet over the weekend, but they had one thing in common: They were made stronger and wetter by climate change.
From Hurricane Fiona barreling over Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic to Typhoon Nanmadol pounding Japan, to the remnants of Typhoon Merbok wreaking havoc in Alaska, the past 72 hours have demonstrated the devastating effects of heavy rain and flooding.
The three weekend storms add to a trend of wetter storms in a warmer future, said Michael Wehner, a senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
“The worst storms will get worse,” he said.
With climate change making storms rainier and more intense, the weekend's extreme weather events offer a glimpse of what could become more common in the future, according to experts.
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/climate-change-hurricane-fiona-stronger-storms-rcna48327
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