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.
Denne historien er fra September 30, 2024-utgaven av Time.
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Denne historien er fra September 30, 2024-utgaven av Time.
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TV SHOWS
An artistic triumph. A record-breaking 18 Emmy wins. An all-time viewership high for FX.
MOVIES
If you read only the synopsis of Babygirl before seeing it, you might imagine it's an erotic age-gap thriller about the workplace power dynamic between men and women.
BOOKS
Percival Everett's reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which won a National Book Award, is a sweeping story centering on Jim, the enslaved sidekick in Mark Twain's classic adventure tale.
ALBUMS
Singer Beth Gibbons hasn't released much music in the 30 years since her iconic band Portishead stormed out of the gate with seminal trip-hop record Dummy. Nor has she spoken to the press much, gaining a reputation for intense privacy.
PODCASTS
The most engrossing podcast Dan Taberski has produced since Missing Richard Simmons, Hysterical investigates a mysterious illness that spread among high school girls in Le Roy, N.Y., beginning in 2011, in what is believed to be the largest case of mass hysteria since the Salem witch trials.
Elton JOHN
Elton John has no address. Visitors to his home are given three names: the name of a house, the name of a hill, and the name of a town, which is near Windsor, as in Windsor Castle, where King Charles III lives.
Caitlin CLARK
A Fever coach has tasked me with standing under the basket to retrieve her misses. But as Clark, the two-time college national player of the year for the University of Iowa, reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year from the Indiana Fever, and emergent American sports icon, runs all over the court to launch long-range bombs, I barely have to move. Swish, swish, swish. She hits 14 shots in a row. A dozen in a row. Eleven in a row. Nine in a row. Another nine.
Lisa SU
It's the day after the U.S. presidential election, and like much of the nation she was awake until the early hours, transfixed as the results came in, only tearing herself away once it became clear that Donald Trump had won.
Donald TRUMP-THE CHOICE
A once and future President whose influence dominated this year
Mental Health Levels Up
2024's progress hints at things to come
