Climate Change Realities: Hurricane Patricia
Was hurricane #Patricia an undeniable sign of climate change? It's
a question with no definitive answer. It was
the strongest storm on record. To the extent that climate change is a very
relevant topic to humanity, Patricia was also very significant. Were Superstorm Sandy or Hurricane
Katrina at least partially caused by man-made climate change? These events do
speak to how climate change should be politically prioritized. Should
governments endeavor to address things like defense, poverty, and so forth first
before climate change? And how relevant are domestic concerns like gun
control and a woman's right to choose in the face of catastrophic environmental
disasters?
The truth is that no one can tell to what extent human-caused
climate change led to Hurricane Patricia or similar apocalyptic-like
environmental events. As Eric Holthaus wrote in a recent article
on slate.com: “But it is exactly the kind of terrifying storm we can expect to
see more frequently in the decades to come. Although there’s no way to know
exactly how much climate change is a factor in Patricia’s explosive
strengthening, it’s irresponsible, at this point, not to discuss it.”
Climate change boosts the frequency of the worst in weather. The current, massive El
Niño weather event, along with rising ocean levels and rising oceanic and
atmospheric temperatures, all contributed to Patricia. Climate change not only
causes there to be more frequent strong hurricanes, but more frequent strong El Niño’s as well.
“ / What’s easier to attribute is the
fact that, El Niño or not, the temperature of global oceans—and more
importantly, the total heat content
stored in the top layer of the world’s oceans—is
skyrocketing. The carbon dioxide released by fossil fuel burning does a great
job of trapping the sun’s energy, and recent research has shown most of that
energy—more than 90 percent—is
being funneled into the oceans. Hurricanes use that extra energy as fuel for
the thunderstorms that swirl around their centers. Warmer water increases the
intensity of updrafts, which draw in humid, tropical air, and in turn,
increases the chances of rapid storm intensification. In this way, storms
forming in today’s climate probably have a better chance to reach their maximum
potential intensity, as Patricia has.\ ”
