More Category 4 and 5 hurricanes hit the U.S. mainland from 2017 to 2021 than from 1963 to 2016. Hurricanes today also last longer than they once did and move slower, multiplying the damage. Rapid intensification used to spin up once a century, but studies show that in the future, it could occur more frequently-especially in waters bordering the East Coast-putting cities like New Orleans, Houston, Tampa, and Charleston, S.C., at higher risk. By 2100, the number of major hurricanes, including a new breed of "ultraintense" Category 5 storms with winds of at least 190 m.p.h., is expected to increase by 20%.
As with most anthropogenic catastrophes, the effects of climate change are compounding. Storm surge now rides on an elevated sea level, flooding coastlines with walls of water more than 25 ft. high (Hurricane Katrina, 2005). Because the atmosphere holds around 8% more water for every 2°F of warming, storms today carry vastly more precipitation-dumping up to 40 in. of rain in a day (Hurricane Harvey, 2017). One example of how the compounding forces of climate change are overwhelming coastlines, according to climate scientist Kerry Emanuel: if Superstorm Sandy had occurred in 1912 instead of 2012, it might not have flooded lower Manhattan.
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