A spate of record-breaking storms has spurred a call for expanding the hurricane scale for better warnings that could save lives.

A new analysis of global hurricane data since 1980 shows the number of storms with winds over 124 mph has doubled, and those with winds over 155 mph has tripled. Credit: NASA

Bob Berwyn reports for InsideClimate News:2018 Atlantic hurricane season begins, scientists are worried that U.S. coastal communities could face more super storms with winds, storm surges and rainfall so intense that current warning categories don’t fully capture the threat.This year’s forecast is about average and much more subdued than last summer’s hyperactive season turned out to be, partly due to cooler ocean temperatures in the tropical Atlantic, as well as a nascent El Niño pattern. But that doesn’t mean an individual storm won’t blow up to exceptional strength, as Andrew did before striking Florida in 1992, an otherwise relatively quiet year.Heat trapped by the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is raising the chances of that happening, said Penn State climate scientist Michael Mann.A new review of global data on hurricanes shows that since 1980, the number of storms with winds stronger than 200 kilometers per hour (124 mph, or a strong Category 3) have doubled, and those with winds stronger than 250 kilometers per hour (155 mph) have tripled.The analysis, published this week by four prominent climate scientists, also shows other clear trends, including a poleward migration of the areas where storms reach peak intensity, which puts new areas at risk, including New England and even Europe.Storms are also intensifying more quickly, with a greater chance they will drop record amounts of rain, especially if they stall out when they hit land, as Hurricane Harvey did in Houston last year.”The weight of the evidence suggests that the 30-year-old prediction of more intense and wetter tropical cyclones is coming to pass. This is a risk that we can no longer afford to ignore,” wrote the authors—Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Kerry Emanuel of MIT, Jim Kossin of NOAA and Mann.

Mann advocates for adding a new Category 6 to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale to describe the extremely powerful super storms seen in recent years—storms that can be fueled by global warming.”The current intensity scale doesn’t capture the fact that a 10 mph increase in sustained wind speeds ups the damage potential by 20 percent,” Mann said. “That’s not a subtle effect. It’s one that we can see.” Based on the spacing of Categories 1-5, there should be a Category 6 approaching peak winds of 190 mph, he said.Creating a new warning level for unprecedented storms could help save lives. When Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest tropical cyclones on record, hit the Philippines in 2013, people died in shelters that had been designed to withstand a historic storm surge but still flooded.Read the full storyLike this? Click to receive free updates

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Bills subject of action in the NJ State Legislture today:


A1033 – Makes Palisades Interstate Park Commission eligible for certain open space and historic preservation funding.
06/25/2018 Substituted for S-1760
06/25/2018 Passed in Senate and sent to Governor 37-0

A1053 – Substituted for S-2140 – Revises and expands laws on trespass and vandalism on agricultural and horticultural lands.
06/25/2018 Substituted for S-1429
06/25/2018 Passed in Senate and sent to Governor 39-0

06/25/2018 Passed in Senate and sent to Governor 38-0

A4243 – Establishes Mercer Regional Water Services Commission as oversight body over certain Trenton Water Works operations.
06/25/2018 Introduced and referred to Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee 

A4246 – Requires State parks, forests, State-owned beaches, and MVC offices to remain open to public if emergency is declared due to failure to enact general appropriation law as prescribed by NJ Constitution.
06/25/2018 Introduced and referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee 

ACR144 – Condemns EPA decision to withdraw from “once-in-always-in” policy under the Clean Air Act.
06/25/2018 Substituted for SCR-121
06/25/2018 Ps File  26-12

AJR144 – Designates May of each year as “Monarch Butterfly Month.”
06/25/2018 Introduced and referred to Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee 

AR178 – Urges U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list monarch butterfly as threatened species.
06/25/2018 Introduced and referred to Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee 

S1429 – Revises and expands laws on trespass and vandalism on agricultural and horticultural lands.
06/25/2018 Substituted by A-1053

S1760 – Makes Palisades Interstate Park Commission eligible for certain open space and historic preservation funding.
06/25/2018 Substituted by A-1033

S2140 – Authorizes prescribed burning in certain circumstances.
06/25/2018 Substituted by A-1675 (1R)

S2329 – Re-establishes former NJ Commission on Science and Technology as NJ Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology.
06/25/2018 Substituted by A-3652 (1R)

S2776 – Prohibits use of plastic carryout bags, expanded polystyrene, and single-use plastic straws.
06/25/2018 Introduced and referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee 

S2778 – Concerns disclosure by homeowner of lead plumbing prior to home sale.
06/25/2018 Introduced and referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee 

S2781 – Requires State parks, forests, State-owned beaches, and MVC offices to remain open to public if emergency is declared due to failure to enact general appropriation law as prescribed by NJ Constitution.
06/25/2018 Introduced and referred to Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee 

S2782 – Authorizes issuance of multi-species depredation permit for wildlife control on farmland.
06/25/2018 Introduced and referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee 

SCR121 – Condemns EPA decision to withdraw from “once-in-always-in” policy under the Clean Air Act.
06/25/2018 Substituted by ACR-144

SCR128 – Urges DEP to replace current lethal population control methods for foxes on Brigantine Island with non-lethal deterrence methods.
06/25/2018 Introduced and referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee


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