Hurricanes have become so gnarly over the past decade that some scientist believe we need a new class to better reflect their chroma : Category 6 .
Under the currentSaffir - Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale , hurricane are categorize on a scale of 1 to 5 based on their maximum sustained lead speed . A hurricane receives family 5 status if it has sustained breaking wind speed over 252 kilometre ( 157 miles ) per minute .
At Category 5 saturation , you may ask to see significant damage to property , including fallen trees and power lines , as well as destroyed houses . Most of the impact area in the wake of a class 5 tempest wo n’t be inhabitable for weeks or month .
The wind speed of a Category 5 storm compared to five other storms seen since 2013.Image credit: James Kossin and Michael Wehner
In a new sketch , investigator have noted how recent year have visualise several storms that far exceeded this speed room access . As such , they offer that federal agency should think about introducing a Modern family – Category 6 – to delimit hurricane and typhoons that have wind velocity exceeding 309 kilometre ( 192 miles ) per hr .
Since 2013 , at least five storms have already reached the hypothetical Category 6 threshold : Hurricane Patricia , Typhoon Meranti , Typhon Goni , Typhoon Haiyan , and Typhoon Surigae .
For case , Hurricane Patricia hit Mexico and parts of Texas in October 2015 . With free burning wind speeds of up to 346 kilometers ( 215 international mile ) per hour , itholds the titleof the most powerful tropical cyclone ever observed in the Western Hemisphere .
With climate changealready increasingthe ferocity of storm across the world , this breed of violent storm is set to becomeincreasingly more commonin the year and decades ahead .
mood change can impacthurricanes and typhoonsin a ten thousand of ways . Warmer ocean aerofoil temperature providemore Department of Energy for hurricanes , potentially leading to increased intensity and faster wind instrument speeds . at the same time , climate modification mayslow down the front of hurricanesas they drift across geographical regions . This allows the hurricane to lurk over one surface area for longer , thereby increasing the amount of damage it can inflict .
“ Anthropogenic global warming has already significantly increased surface ocean and tropospheric air temperatures in area where TCs [ tropical cyclone ] forge and broadcast . The resulting increases in usable sensible and latent heat Energy Department increase the thermodynamic potential wind intensity of these storms , ” Michael Wehner – from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California – and James P. Kossin – from the University of Wisconsin - Madison – conclude in their subject .
“ Here , we introduce a conjectural extension to the Saffir – Simpson hurricane wind graduated table to reflect that the most intense TC are becoming more intense and will continue to do so as the clime continues to warm , ” the cogitation authors summate .
While the proposed storm categorization arrangement has n’t yet been embrace by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) or any other prescribed agency , it ’s not the first time researchershave floated the ideaof pass the Saffir – Simpson hurricane . As the mood crisis deepens , it ’s look increasingly potential that these proposals could be come a reality .
" This study picks up on a cardinal feature of these classification system , that the most uttermost category ( 5 ) is open - stop – in this scale , anything above 252 km / h. This is problematic in the context of convey expected increase in peak tropical cyclone wind velocity under mood change . consequently , this sketch explores how tropic cyclone classification would exchange if a class 6 door was introduced at 309 km / h , ” Dr Daniel Kingston , a older lector at the University of Otago in New Zealand , who was not directly involved in the report , said in astatement .
“ Five violent storm have already breached this hypothetical Category 6 room access , and all have occurred since 2013 – with the threshold expected to be gap more and more under on-going climate change , ” he added .
The study is published in the journalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
