The 2020 hurricane season went down as the
most active hurricane season on record,
using up the designated list of
names for the season and eight
names from the Greek alphabet.
There were 30 of these storms
in total, 13 hurricanes, six
of which were major hurricanes.
As we head into the peak of another
active season, it's undeniable our
tropical landscape is changing.
Starting with seeing these systems earlier
this year for the 7th year in a row,
a named storm developed before
the start of hurricane.
Season with Subtropical Storm
on a forming on May 22nd.
In fact, this past decade 10 preseason
storms developed compared to just
three in the previous decade.
As a result beginning this year,
the National Hurricane Center started
issuing their regular tropical outlooks
on May 15th instead of June 1st.
While the official start of the Atlantic
hurricane season is still June 1st,
the conversation to move the
start to May 15th is underway.
Right now, the NHC is looking at a
quantitative threshold for adding.
Or removing dates to the hurricane season.
From there,
the decision to move the beginning
of the season can be made.
Hurricane seasons are also more active now
than they used to be over the last decade.
In average,
season was said to have 12 named storms,
six hurricanes and three major
hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean moved
into a more active period in 1995,
which has now resulted in an increase
in what we consider a normal season.
As we enter a new decade in average,
season is now considered to
have 14 named storms,
seven hurricanes.
With the number of major hurricanes
remaining at three and tropical
forecasters at the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration and
Colorado State University continue
to predict that this year will
be even more active than that,
the 2021 hurricane season has already
broken at least one record hurricane Elsa,
which skirted the Tampa Bay coast in July,
became the earliest E storm to
develop when it formed on July 1st.
Climate and extreme weather researchers
remain hesitant to attribute the recent.
Increase in tropical activity to humans,
but we can
say that due to the impacts
of humans on climate change,
the storms are becoming more
intense and impacting us more.
The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate
Change and International Authority
on Climate Change says most of the
global warming over the past half
century is very likely due to human
caused greenhouse gas emissions.
They go on to simply state the
atmosphere and oceans have warmed
the amounts of snow and ice.
Have diminished and sea levels
have risen and these
rising sea levels aren't happening
in far off isolated locations.
They're happening right here in Tampa Bay.
The tide gauge in Saint Pete
has risen more than an average
of 8 1/2 inches since 1947,
and computer forecast models
help scientists run simulations
for what that could mean when it
comes to storm surge. You know,
some places get more storm surge
to other places, not less. But one
thing that was a fact further inland,
so. Create a increased flooding risk at
the coast and no matter what happens,
even if even if the Hurricanes don't
change at all, hurricanes themselves
are changing as the atmosphere
and oceans warm and sea ice melts.
Water vapor in the atmosphere
increases. An increase
of sea surface temperatures
of about 1 degree Celsius has been
estimated to result in a 7% increase
in the intensity of the rainfall
in a hurricane that we're not
necessarily seeing the strongest
evidence for more storms,
but we are seeing a trend to stronger.
The thing we know very well is that.
In the warmer world.
The most intense storms,
the category floors and the
category fives will become
more intense.
We aren't just talking about
more intense hurricanes,
but storms that rapidly intensify
right up to landfall,
ultimately producing more
and longer lasting damage
to our Florida communities.