Hurricanes Threaten Inland Areas

Hurricanes draw their strength from the warm, moist air over the oceans. When a hurricane reaches land, it loses this power source and begins to weaken. In the past, that meant that inland areas were usually spared the severe damage that coastal areas are subject to. But thanks to climate change, that is changing.

The world is warming, primarily because mankind has been pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas). As a result, the oceans are getting warmer, which provides more fuel for hurricanes. That means hurricanes are growing stronger and wetter—and they are holding onto that strength longer after reaching land.

A new study published in the scientific journal Nature finds that hurricanes today lose on average about fifty percent (50%) of their power within 24 hours after making landfall. In the 1960s hurricanes would lose about 75% of their strength in that same time period. So inland areas are being struck by faster, more destructive winds and larger amounts of flooding rainfall than in the past.

Hurricane Zeta is an example of this phenomenon. It came ashore along the Gulf Coast of the United States, and left millions without power in Louisiana, Georgia, and the Carolinas. By the time Zeta reached New Jersey—about 1,000 miles away from the Gulf Coast—it was still packing damaging winds of 50 miles per hour.

To read more about climate change and how it may be fulfilling biblical prophecy, see Chapter 11 of my book, Beyond Blind Faith, entitled “Apocalypse Soon,” which you can read for free on this website by clicking here (https://dondavidson.net/apocalypse-soon/).

Part of this blog entry is summarized from the CNN article, “Hurricanes are maintaining their strength farther inland as the planet warms, study finds,” by Drew Kann, November 11, 2020, which can be found here.