Hurricane Helene an example of how climate change is impacting weather, intense inland storms

Scientists point to Hurricane Helene as an example of how human-caused climate change is behind extreme weather events and of how severe storms no longer primarily impact coastal communities. They are growing stronger and impacting inland cities like Augusta.

“One of the things that’s really important is we know that human beings have been increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere for the past 150 years or so,” said Dr. Daniel Gilford, a climate scientist with Climate Central, a nonprofit climate reporting agency. “Corresponding with that, the temperatures of the atmosphere and the ocean have been increasing steadily.”

Gilford said different places have been increasing at different rates.

“In general, extreme weather events are getting worse across the planet because of human-caused climate change, especially due to climate warming,” he said.

Bill Murphey, state climatologist at the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, said extreme weather events like rapidly intensifying hurricanes, severe weather outbreaks are becoming the new normal.

“One direct connection between climate change and extreme weather events is the rapid intensification of hurricanes due to the warming climate,” he said. “The atmosphere today holds about 10% more moisture. So more water vapor is available to feed heavy downpours such as those experienced with Helene in 2024.”

Storms and “rapid intensification”

Murphey said tropical cyclones grow dramatically stronger, very quickly, during marine heatwave events, which makes it difficult for the surface of the sea to cool during the winter months.

“In 2024, seven hurricanes underwent rapid intensification − Beryl, Helene, Isaac, Kirk, Milton, Oscar, and Rafael,” said Murphey. “In addition, systems like Helene produced extreme rainfall and catastrophic inland flooding due to being a more water-loaded tropical system.”

Gilford said hurricanes are no different.

“Hurricanes respond to this warming in specific ways,” he said. “In our particular case, in the North Atlantic part of the world, we’re seeing hurricanes become wetter. They’ve become slower and more intense. They’re also bringing more water on shore when they arrive because of sea level rise as well.

“There are extreme events that are changing all across our planet right now in response to climate change. It’s already happening. Helene is an example of this.”

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Severe storms are growing more intense and changing their paths

Murphey said most tend to misunderstand the difference between climate change and global warming.

“Climate change includes warming and the side effects of warming like heavier rainstorms, melting glaciers, heavier rainstorms, or more frequent droughts,” he said. “Global warming refers only to the Earth’s rising surface temperature.”

Gilford said there’s still so much to understand as to the extent to which hurricanes may land in different locations.

“We’re still trying to understand how hurricane tracks could change in the future,” he said. “We know that hurricanes will probably make landfall further north. There’s still ongoing work to understand how much more intense hurricanes will be because of human-caused climate change. There’s ongoing work to understand if there will be more or less of them in the future.”

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Gilford said there are some unanswered questions among scientists regarding understanding the causes behind particular changes.

“We know, for instance, climate change has played a role in increasing the intensity of hurricanes,” he said. “But there’s a discussion as to whether or not these changes were largely driven by human driven aerosols or greenhouse gases. … But ultimately, either way, it’s a human effect.”

Gilford said there’s some discussion about how much extra rainfall there will be in storms. 

“We know that there will be more rainfall in hurricanes because of climate change,” he said. “But just how much more is still an open question. I wouldn’t say there’s any disagreements, necessarily, as much as there are just open discussions about things we don’t quite know the answers to yet.”

Gilford said there’s still so much to explore. 

“What we’ve learned has taught us unambiguously that human beings are responsible for affecting the characteristics of hurricanes through climate change,” he said. “And will continue to do so in the future. The particular extent or characteristics of changes will depend on where you are and at what time you’re experiencing the event.”

‘We need to reduce emissions’

Gilford said coming together as a species is key.

“This is our planet,” he said. “It’s really important that we come together as a species and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, reduce how many fossil fuels are burning and our reliance on fossil fuels for energy sources. These are the biggest long-term goals.”

Gilford said one of the most important things that anybody can do about climate change is talk about climate change. 

“So many people believe that climate change is happening and understand that humans play some role in it, but don’t have regular discussions with people they care about, about this critical topic,” Gilford said. “Hurricane Helene is a really good example of how climate change is already affecting our lives.

“We see a storm like Hurricane Helene, we can understand its role, how its impacts have changed over time,” he said. “And we can talk with our neighbors, friends and family about how those changes have affected us in the communities we care about.”

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This reporting content is supported by a partnership with several funders and Journalism Funding Partners.

Erica Van Buren is the climate change reporter for The Augusta Chronicle, part of the USA TODAY Network. Connect with her at EVanBuren@gannett.com or on X: @EricaVanBuren32.