Climate scientists warn that Hurricane Beryl could foreshadow an even worse hurricane season than previously expected. Researchers at Colorado State University fear that this massive storm occurring at the beginning of the season, instead of later during peak months, indicates unusually intense storms ahead.
What's happening?
The team at CSU declared Beryl "a likely harbinger of a hyperactive season," according to the Guardian. The hurricane was breaking records before it even made landfall in Texas, including becoming the strongest-ever June storm.
From late June into early July, the Category 5 Atlantic hurricane caused destruction and death in the Yucatán Peninsula, the Caribbean, and the Gulf Coast of the United States. In Texas alone, the death toll reached at least 36.
Beryl left more than two million without power for an extended period of time, and AccuWeather estimated the overall damage and financial loss from the storm in the United States to be between $28-32 billion.
Senior meteorologist and climate expert with AccuWeather Brett Anderson said, "It's a big wake-up call."
Why is Hurricane Beryl important?
Hurricane season had only just begun when Beryl hit at about six weeks in. Usually, a storm of such magnitude is expected later during peak times of the season. With the increase in seawater temperatures due to the climate crisis, Beryl began as a smaller storm that quickly intensified as it encountered warmer water.
Hurricane Beryl is another example of how an expected extreme weather event can turn catastrophic with the addition of our changing climate. Scientists are examining these altered weather events as a pattern to form the consensus that human-induced changes to the climate supercharge extreme weather events, making them more powerful and dangerous to our communities.
Brian McNoldy, a climate scientist at the University of Miami, said, "Beryl would be astounding to happen anyway, but for it to form in June is completely unprecedented. It's just remarkable to see sea temperatures this warm."
He added, "With a climate-change influenced ocean, we are making extreme storms like this more likely to happen."
What's being done about extreme weather events?
Organizations and governments across the globe are taking action to keep people safe and combat the changing climate.
Pallet is a company that creates temporary shelters that can be set up in under an hour to aid in natural disaster situations. Researchers are developing strategies to cool down communities during warm weather and reduce the effects of heat islands.
At home, we can all do our part to mitigate the impacts of our changing climate. From installing solar panels to driving an electric vehicle and planting a native garden, we can each take action every day to work toward a safer future.
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