One of the most visible consequences of a warming world is an increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events.

If it feels like we are hearing about extreme weather events more and more frequently now, it’s because we are. Intense hurricanes have increased in the past few decades, threatening more people. Dangers include: flying debris, flooding and disruption to vital services like healthcare. Recent analyses conclude that the strongest hurricanes occurring in some regions including the North Atlantic have increased in intensity over the past two to three decades. For the continental United States in the Atlantic Basin, models project a 45-87 percent increase in the frequency of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes despite a possible decrease in the frequency of storms. Global warming is likely to result in more devastating hurricanes. Tornados involve factors like variations in vertical versus horizontal winds that complicate their connection to higher temperatures alone. As summed up by the International Panel on Climate Change, a group of leading climate scientists from around the world, climate change is leading to changes in the “frequency, intensity, spatial extent, duration, and timing of extreme weather and climate events”.