11 Facts That Will Blow You Away

Posted: 29-May-2007; Updated: 14-Jan-2008

In 2004, Hurricane Catarina became the first recorded hurricane to hit the South Atlantic. (Photo: Courtesy NASA)

Storms have battered our coasts for millennia, but in recent decades they've become stronger and more destructive. Mounting scientific evidence links this trend to global warming.

Why? Hurricanes get their power from warm surface waters underlying the storm. Since sea temperatures have risen with global warming, fiercer storms are brewing around the globe.

20

Percent of hurricanes in the 1970s that reached Category 4 or 5. (Webster et al.)

33

Percent of hurricanes in the 1990s and 2000s that reached Category 4 or 5. (Webster et al.)

325

In parts per million, approximate level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in 1970. (Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, CDIAC)

380

In parts per million, approximate level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today. (CDIAC)

75

Percent increase in intensity and duration of hurricanes and tropical storms since the 1970s. (Emanuel)

63

Increase in hurricane intensity and duration linked to higher sea surface temperatures. (Emanuel)

2005

Year with the most intense Atlantic-basin storm ever recorded: Hurricane Wilma. A Category 5 hurricane before it made landfall, Wilma ripped across the Yucatan Peninsula as a Category 4, then hit the Florida peninsula as a Category 2 and crossed the state in less than 5 hours.

2005

Year with most hurricanes in the Atlantic on record.

2006

Year with one of the strongest tropical cyclones to ever hit the South Pacific. Cyclone Monica made landfall in Queensland, Australia on April 19.

2004

Year with the first hurricane ever recorded in the South Atlantic. On March 26, Hurricane Catarina made landfall 500 miles south of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (NASA)

100 billion

Estimate in dollars of damage caused by hurricanes hitting the U.S. coasts in 2005 alone. (National Climatic Data Center)

Sources

Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC), cdiac.ornl.gov/ftp/trends/co2/maunaloa.co2.

Emanuel, K. 2005. Increasing destructiveness of tropical cyclones over the past 30 years. Nature 436: 686-688.

NASA's Earth Observatory. earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16505

Webster, PJ, GJ Holland, JA Curry & H-R Chang. 2005. Changes in tropical cyclone number, duration, and intensity in a warming environment. Science 309: 1844-1846.