Global warming will lead to fewer but more powerful and damaging hurricanes , according to a new study from the Princeton Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in the United States published today in the journal Science .
The authors, led by Morris Bender, have developed climate prediction models that show that, although the total number of hurricanes in the Atlantic basin this century should be reduced, the number of very intense category storms (between 4 and 5 ) increase . It is even possible that they double or triple by the year 2100. This phenomenon could be attributed to the increase in the temperature of the oceans . In addition, everything indicates that the highest concentration of intense and destructive hurricanes in the coming decades will be centered in the Western Atlantic region, for which the researchers warn that the island of Hispaniola, the Bahamas and the southeastern coast of the United States could be at increased risk.
Intensity 5 hurricanes exceed 250 kilometers per hour and are the most devastating. Katrina , which hit New Orleans (USA) in 2005, or Mitch , which swept through Central America in 1998 and generated winds of up to 290 km / h, are some examples.
