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yesterday

Marine Heat Waves Sharpen Hurricanes, Driving 60% More Billion-Dollar Disasters

The finding signals forecasters and planners must track ocean hot spots that can speed up storms with little warning.

FILE - The Hotel Flamingo is surrounded by debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Otis, in Acapulco, Mexico, Friday, Nov. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)
FILE - Waves lap on the beach in front of empty house foundations surrounded by debris, following the passage of Hurricane Milton, on Manasota Key, in Englewood, Fla., Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
FILE - Jaime Sosa stands amid the ruins of his home nearly three weeks after Hurricane Otis hit as a Category 5 storm in the Alta Cuauhtemoc area of Acapulco, Mexico, Nov. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)
FILE - People bike past damaged homes and debris left by Hurricane Milton, on the sand-coated main road of southern Manasota Key, already cleared of feet of sand, in Englewood, Fla., Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

Overview

  • Peer-reviewed research in Science Advances examined 1,600 landfalling tropical cyclones since 1981 and found storms that crossed marine heat waves were more likely to rapidly intensify.
  • Storms that moved over these hot zones produced about a 60% higher incidence of inflation-adjusted billion-dollar damage when they hit land.
  • Marine heat waves are long-lasting, wide areas of sea surface in the hottest 10% of historical temperatures, and they are occurring more often and closer to shore as oceans warm.
  • Authors controlled for coastal development by comparing landfalls on similarly urbanized coasts, indicating the extra damage stems from crossing unusually warm water.
  • Researchers and outside experts urge earlier warnings, tighter evacuation triggers, and stronger coastal defenses because rapid intensification can cut the time people have to prepare.