Climate change made Hurricane Melissa 4x more likely: Study
A fresh study from Imperial College London reveals that climate change made Hurricane Melissa—one of the most powerful storms ever recorded that recently struck Jamaica—four times more likely.
Thanks to a global temperature rise of 1.3°C since pre-industrial times, these kinds of hurricanes are now expected every 1,700 years instead of once every 8,100 years.
The warming also pushed peak wind speeds up by about 19 kph (19.32km/h).
Melissa caused $7.7 billion in damage
Melissa slammed Jamaica with winds up to 295 kph (298km/h) and nearly a meter of rain, causing $7.7 billion in damage—about 40% of the country's GDP.
Experts say recovery could take over a decade.
If global temperatures climb another degree, future hurricanes could get even stronger.
Urgent need to cut greenhouse gas emissions
The study highlights how climate change is making big storms like Melissa both more common and more intense in the Caribbean.
Researchers stress it's urgent to cut greenhouse gas emissions and step up adaptation plans to protect vulnerable places—because storms like this might not be so rare anymore.