Home / Weather / Climate Change Fuels Catastrophic Hurricane Melissa, Causing Billions in Damage
Climate Change Fuels Catastrophic Hurricane Melissa, Causing Billions in Damage
30 Oct
Summary
- Hurricane Melissa, Jamaica's strongest storm in 174 years, made 4 times more likely by climate change
- Warming increased Melissa's intensity, with winds 19 km/h faster than without climate change
- Preliminary damage estimates at $7.7 Billion, around 40% of Jamaica's GDP
On 2025-10-30T06:24:15+00:00, Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica as one of the most powerful storms ever recorded, making it the island's strongest in 174 years. A rapid analysis by scientists at Imperial College London found that human-caused climate change has quadrupled the likelihood of such a catastrophic hurricane hitting Jamaica.
The study revealed that in a cooler world, a Melissa-type hurricane would make landfall in Jamaica around every 8,100 years, but that figure has now decreased to every 1,700 years due to global warming. The warming caused mainly by burning fossil fuels has also increased Melissa's intensity, with wind speeds 19 kilometers per hour faster than they would have been without climate change.
Preliminary analysis by Enki Research has placed the direct damage to Jamaica's infrastructure at around $7.7 Billion, or around 40 percent of the country's GDP. Experts say this devastation will take at least a decade to recover from, not including wider economic losses from the hit to tourism, shipping, and supply chains.
"Man-made climate change clearly made Hurricane Melissa stronger and more destructive," said Ralf Toumi, director of Imperial College's Grantham Institute. "These storms will become even more devastating in the future if we continue overheating the planet by burning fossil fuels."
