From Salon.com
“Earlier this week Idalia was merely a tropical storm, but unnaturally warmed water near America's southeastern coast helped rear it into a record-breaking hurricane flooding Florida and Georgia. Experts agree that excessive heat from climate change, primarily caused by burning fossil fuels, contributed to this result, apparently super-charging the tropical storm…In the past, a tropical storm like Idalia would often lose power as it reached land. Instead, the water in and around the Florida Keys was so hot that it was literally equivalent to hot tub temperatures, helping to supercharge the tropical storm when it could have otherwise lost strength.” |