Hurricane Matthew is barreling towards Florida, and left-leaning bloggers and scientists have already blamed the storm’s ferocity on, you guessed it, global warming.
“Matthew has already set a number of records‚Ää—‚Ääand global warming is giving it a boost,” Joe Romm, ThinkProgress’ climate editor, wrote.
“Hurricane Matthew, a record-shattering storm that is unusual for October, is a reminder of climate change’s potential to turn seasonal weather events into extreme, year-round threats,” echoed Huffington Post reporter Lydia O’Connor.
Matthew is indeed a powerful storm with maximum sustained wind speeds of 125 miles per hour, and it’s expected to strengthen to a Category 4 hurricane before making landfall in Florida Friday morning. Some scientists have said it’s a stark warning for future generations.
“We expect to see more high-intensity events, Category 4 and 5 events, that are around 13% of total hurricanes but do a disproportionate amount of damage,” Kerry Emanuel, a climate scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told The Guardian.
“The theory is robust and there are hints that we are already beginning to see it in nature,” said Emanuel, who recently signed a letter with 374 other scientists basically endorsing Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
