National Hurricane Center senior hurricane specialist Brad Reinhart works to track Hurricane Beryl, the first hurricane of the 2024 season, at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, on July 1, 2024. .
Joe Reddell | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Hurricane Beryl has been declared the strongest hurricane ever recorded in July, breaking the latest in a series of records and causing widespread damage across the Caribbean.
The tropical cyclone set several records that experts say are linked to climate change because it developed faster and earlier than similar phenomena this year. It was the most powerful hurricane on record for June and July, and the most intense of all hurricanes before September 1 — typically the most intense period of the Atlantic season, June 1 to November 30 .
Beryl was declared a Category 5 hurricane on Monday, the highest category on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, which is declared when winds reach 157 miles per hour, according to one agency. Web page From the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
scientists been warned for years Global warming will cause hurricanes to intensify more quickly due to warmer ocean waters, giving people less time to deal with their effects.
NOAA previously forecast There is an 85% chance that the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season will be “above normal.” The report predicts that 17 to 25 named storms will be observed during this period, compared with the average of 14, as well as 8 to 13 hurricanes, higher than the usual average of 7. Four to seven of them are expected to develop into major hurricanes, compared with an average of three.
This is caused in part by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, a long-term observed climate pattern that typically enhances hurricane activity in the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean due to water temperatures. Meteorologists predict that La Niña will occur from July to September, marked by factors such as lower ocean surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean.
On top of that, ocean temperatures in the Atlantic basin are currently at record warm levels, with temperatures in May close to normal for late August, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Jamaica announced an island-wide curfew on Wednesday as Beryl moved toward the country’s coast.
The hurricane continues to wreak havoc and has killed at least six people so far. According to the Associated Press, three people died in Grenada and Carriacou, one in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and two casualties in northern Venezuela. report.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said in a video speech in the early morning: “In accordance with Section 26 of the Disaster Risk Management Act, I now declare the entire Jamaica to be a disaster area within the next seven days.” The entire country will be implemented from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday. Island curfew. He added that the hurricane is expected to bring life-threatening winds, storm surges and possible flooding, highlighting the impact of climate change.
“While our carbon footprint is small, our region is bearing the brunt of the changes,” Holness said.
The tropical cyclone has passed over Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Islands. a resident of united island tell the bbc “Almost the entire island is homeless.” Other locals said there were shortages of food, water, first aid kits and electricity.
—CNBC’s Ruxandra Iordache contributed to this article.
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