Hurricanes have become too strong: scientists suggest changing the classification
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Due to climate change, hurricanes are becoming so strong that scientists propose to expand their classification and introduce the concept of “megahurricanes”.
The standard Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, which has been in place since the 1970s, has categories 1 through 5, but researchers want to introduce a sixth category to classify extremely strong cyclones.
They noted this in a study published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, writes The Guardian.
Category 6 is proposed to include all hurricanes with sustained winds over 309 km/h. Researchers say that over the past 10 years, five such “megahurricanes” have been recorded, and in the future their number can only increase due to global warming.
“Global warming is leading to more intense tropical cyclones. Using Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale is becoming less appropriate for communicating global wind risk”says the study.
| Illustrative photo, Hurricane Katrina 2005/alancrosthwaite |
Category 5 tropical cyclones are very strong and destructive. For example, in 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans, and in 2017, Hurricane Maria damaged Puerto Rico.
At the same time, there are even more dangerous cyclones that require an additional category. In particular, they include typhoon “Hayan”, which killed more than 6 thousand people in the Philippines in 2013.
Tropical cyclone Patricia near Mexico City in 2015 was also a “megahurricane”, reaching a maximum speed of 346 km/h and claiming 13 lives.
The new category was proposed by American scientists from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
According to their table, hurricanes with a speed of 119-153 km/h should be included in the first category, 154-177 km/h in the second, and 178-208 km/h in the third.
The fourth category should include tropical cyclones with wind speeds of up to 251 km/h, and the fifth – 252-309 km/h.
The sixth category should apply only to those hurricanes with sustained winds of 309 km/h or more.
Michael Wenner, co-author of the study, believes that the new category will help to better describe the degree of danger that hurricanes pose to people, as well as highlight the increased risks caused by the climate crisis.
“Our main goal is to raise awareness that climate change is affecting stronger storms,” - he said.
It will be recalled that scientists are not sounding the alarm for the first time because of global warming. Earlier, the UN said that 2023 was the hottest year on record.
Read also: Global warming could affect the size of the human brain – study
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