Climate Change and Hurricanes
Studies note that as the world warms, so will the water, creating situations ripe for stronger storms. Recent studies have shown:
- Over the last 30 years the destructive power of storms has increased 70 percent in both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans
- Over the same period, the percentage of hurricanes classified as category 4 or 5 increased.
These findings correlate with the rise in sea surface temperatures in regions where tropical cyclones typically originate. Moreover, as glaciers melt and water level rises, the potential impacts from even small storms intensify.
We have already seen this impact on the least of these in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. And that is in the richest country in the world. Communities impacted by hurricanes in the summer of 2007 in Mexico and Latin America lived in even worse poverty. The year 2007 marked the first year that two hurricanes classified as Category 5 hit land. God's people who are impacted by these severe storms deserve our help.
Read more from the Union of Concerned Scientists
Return to the Climate and Poverty webpage.