"Melissa caused widespread devastation when it crunched into Jamaica as a category five hurricane on October 28, with winds up up to 185mph. Winds of Melissa's strength are now five times more frequent due to the climate crisis, the research said The storm wiped out homes, businesses, crops and livelihoods, costing damages estimated to be equivalent to around a third of the island nation's GDP."
"The savage strength of Melissa was exacerbated by the overheated air and ocean, caused by the heat-trapping emissions that come from the burning of fossil fuels, an international team of scientists has determined. Climate change increased Melissa's maximum wind speeds by 7% and extreme rainfall by 16%, the team at World Weather Attribution, a consortium of 20 researchers from the US, UK, Sweden, Dominican Republic, Netherlands, Jamaica and Cuba, found."
Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica as a category five on October 28 with winds up to 185mph, causing widespread destruction, displacing hundreds of thousands and killing at least 61 people. Damage costs reached roughly one-third of Jamaica's GDP, destroying homes, businesses, crops and livelihoods. Climate change increased Melissa's maximum wind speeds by 7% and extreme rainfall by 16%. Winds of Melissa's strength are now about five times more frequent, and five-day rainfall events like Melissa's are around 30% more intense and twice as likely. Global heating of about 1.3°C has made the atmospheric and marine conditions behind such extreme events roughly six times more likely.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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