It was one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded – and climate change increased it’s intensity, analysis suggests.
Hurricane Melissa was made four times more likely by climate change, according to a study.
The category 5 hurricane that struck Jamaica on Tuesday, tore through the Caribbean with winds of up to 185mph and also hit Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba, leaving dozens dead and widespread destruction.
In Jamaica, AccuWeather estimated Melissa could cost $22bn in damages and economic loss and that rebuilding could take a decade or more.
Researchers at Imperial College London estimated that in a world without climate change, a weaker hurricane would have been about 12% less damaging.
They said human-caused global warming not only increased the intensity but also the likelihood of the powerful hurricane.
They also found that climate change – caused primarily by the burning of oil, gas and coal – boosted Hurricane Melissa’s wind speed by 7% (11mph).
In a cooler world without climate change, a Melissa-type hurricane would have made landfall in Jamaica once every 8,000 years, they said.
But in today’s climate, with 1.3C warming, it has become four times more likely with such an event now expected once every 1,700 years.
