Climate Change and COVID: Making Hurricanes Worse
- ecoexplained
- Nov 22, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 24, 2020
A few weeks ago, I had blogged about climate change and its effect on extreme natural disasters such as wildfires. However, climate change's detrimental effects are not only limited to occurrences beginning on land.
Global climate change also affects temperature and precipitation patterns, oceanic and atmospheric circulation, rate of rising sea level, and the frequency, intensity, timing, and distribution of hurricanes and tropical storms (Michener et al. 1997). Especially in the United States, we are seeing first hand an increase in numbers and damage caused by hurricanes and tropical storms slamming the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Just in 2020 alone, a total of 31 subtropical depressions, 30 named storms/tropical depressions (storms produce sustained wind speeds of more than 33 knots or 38 mph), 13 hurricanes, and 6 major hurricanes have formed. And like us Californians facing the threat of fires to our neighborhoods, different regions in other parts of the country are facing threats by climate change in the form of tropical storms and hurricanes.
But what is the difference between a tropical depression, storm, and hurricane? How do they affect our communities? According to the NOAA National Hurricane Center, a Tropical Depression is a tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 38 mph (33 knots) or less. A Tropical Storm is a tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 39 to 73 mph (34 to 63 knots). A Hurricane is a tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 74 mph (64 knots) or higher, and hurricanes are sometimes called typhoons (in North Pacific) and cyclones (in Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean). In order to be considered a Major Hurricane, the storm has to have maximum sustained winds of 111 mph (96 knots) or higher, corresponding to a Category 3, 4 or 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
According to the 2017 Climate Science Special Report, “human activities have contributed substantially to observed ocean–atmosphere variability in the Atlantic Ocean (medium confidence), and these changes have contributed to the observed upward trend in North Atlantic hurricane activity since the 1970s (medium confidence),” (Figure 1). Even 20 years ago, we knew that climate change affects storm timing, frequency, and intensity can alter coastal wetland hydrology, geomorphology, biotic structure, energetics, and nutrient cycling, as indicated in Michener et al. 1997. In short, this trend is something we’ve been seeing for a while. And, unfortunately, communities in these areas are suffering due to this negligence by the US government to even recognize climate change--let alone develop a plan to mitigate its effects on the people.
The East Coast also presents higher exposure to hurricanes in general and, thus, suffered the most severe impacts during the 2017 AHS, claims Seara et al. 2020. During Hurricane Maria, a 2018 NOAA Tropical Cyclone Report illustrated that East Coast municipalities experienced the most severe wind speeds with gusts of up to 129 mph and the highest recorded levels of storm surge inundation, ranging from 3 to 9 feet in some of the communities. Hurricane Iota, the first category 5 hurricane of the 2020 season occurred only a week ago, wrecking the shores of Nicaragua. And this happened only two weeks after Hurricane Eta, a category 4 hurricane (AccuWeather). Storms systems that persist in the Atlantic pose a threat to all nations and regions whose shores border the Atlantic Ocean, and it's only a matter of time when another Hurricane Maria or Harvey hits us again.
Our country is not prepared for another storm of these magnitudes because many, including our government, refuse to recognize the existence of climate change and how it affects hurricanes. Sears et al. 2020 claims that the prevalence of raising concern about climate change and extreme storms rises with greater frequency and damage of storms in that region. Thus, many people are less likely to not perceive climate change either as real or as possible causes of storms if they don’t live there. And maybe this is why many in the government fail to believe in climate change as a result of these damaging natural disasters.
Unfortunately, the people that perceive climate change as a real threat are the ones bearing the brunt end. However, it is our responsibility as those who are not getting the full force of these storms to help our government facilitate a plan to mitigate climate change and lessen the threat of storms. Only then can we truly help protect these communities' livelihoods, homes, health, and families.
Interestingly, the co-occurrence of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season and the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic creates even more complex problems. How do people socially distance, maintain sanitary procedures, wear PPE, etc. during evacuations, rescues, and shelters once evacuated? How will populations react when warned to shelter from an oncoming Atlantic hurricane while COVID-19 is actively circulating in the community? Schultz et al. 2020 claims that, “Emergency managers, health care providers, and public health preparedness professionals must create viable solutions to confront these potential scenarios: elevated rates of hurricane-related injury and mortality among persons who refuse to evacuate due to fear of COVID-19, and the resurgence of COVID-19 cases among hurricane evacuees who shelter together.” Climate change is not making the pandemic any easier to manage, especially in areas where natural disasters make enforcing COVID guidelines nearly impossible. Therefore, it is important we focus on tackling the pandemic, in order to effectively alleviate the stress of these communities affected by the combined threats of COVID and devastating storms.
Links Cited:
Climate Science Special Report: Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume I:
Sears et al. 2020:
Michener et al. 1997: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1890/1051-0761(1997)007[0770:CCHATS]2.0.CO;2
NOAA National Hurrcane Center:
NOAA Tropcial Cyclone Report:
Info on Hurricane Iota and Eta from AccuWeather:
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