Do We Need A Category 6?
Hurricanes are becoming so powerful that we need to add a Category 6 definition for the superstorms coming our way, a new study claims. The study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, argues that an expansion of the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, which was developed in the 1950s, is in line to more adequately warn people about climate-charged storms. That scale defines Category 5 as any storm with 156 mph or stronger winds—but the study’s authors identified at least six storms since 2013 that had winds that were over 190 mph. "Our motivation here was to draw the connection between climate change — that warming of the atmosphere, the globe, from the burning of fossil fuels — to hurricanes and tropical cyclones," Michael Wehner, one of the study’s authors, told CBS News. "...Because climate change increases temperature and moisture — which are the sources of the energy for a hurricane or a tropical cyclone — one would expect this speed limit to increase. And indeed it does."
(CBS, AP, The Guardian, Washington Post $, USA Today.)
(Climate and hurricanes: Climate Signals)
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