What’s Worse than Catastrophic?

Although we probably didn’t know its name, we’re all familiar with the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind scale with its category rating for the strength of hurricanes. Category 5 is the strongest hurricane. The scale describes it as catastrophic. It also labels Category 4 as catastrophic, but that’s a discussion for another day.

Soon Saffir-Simpson may be forced to come up with another adjective because a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science suggests a Category 6 be added.

The proposed Category 6 would require maximum sustained winds of greater than 192 mph. The paper gives scientific reasons for the change. It points out that Category 5 has no upper wind limit even though the potential for damage rises exponentially with stronger winds. It goes on to highlight a number of recent tropical cyclones would meet the new criteria. And it notes that since 1979, climate change has more than doubled the risk of a Category 6-type storm.

Two interesting points:

1. The Saffir-Simpson Scale is focused solely on wind, but most fatalities from hurricanes come from water.
2. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has recently revised its coral-bleaching heat stress category system. NOAA is adding new classifications and colors to marine heat stress maps setting a precedent for a potential change to the hurricane scale.

And perhaps a change would provide additional benefits in creating greater everyday awareness of how the climate is changing.

#hurricanes #saffirsimpson #noaa #coralbleaching