Climate change on earth affects how hurricanes behave - the oceans bind the heat that increasing greenhouse gases contribute to and help intensify hurricanes.

The storm Ida, which left devastation in New Orleans and is now moving to the northeast of the United States, meets many of the expectations that meteorologists have of future hurricanes.

- Warmer water makes the storms stronger, it is something we expect more from in the future, says SVT's meteorologist Jannicke Geitskaret.

According to a recently published UN report, the number of hurricanes or cyclones between categories three and five has increased over the past forty years due to higher sea temperatures.

For each degree increase, the intensity of the hurricanes also increases, in addition, the risk of large amounts of rain increases, writes CNN.

Weter and slower

Hurricane Ida is a typical example - before it reached the Louisiana coast on Sunday, it intensified rapidly for a short time, during 24 hours the wind speed increased by 29 meters per second.

Usually an increase of 15 meters per second in a day is considered intense, Ida almost doubled that number.

Another worrying pattern according to meteorologists is that hurricanes are getting wetter and slower.

In parts of Louisiana, Ida has caused 380 millimeters of rain and as it now moves northeast, it is expected to continue to cause heavy rainfall.

- What happens when the atmosphere gets warmer is that it can hold more water vapor.

As it gets warmer on earth, we get heavier and more rain, says Jannicke Geitskaret.

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Almost all of Louisiana was without power and many had their homes flooded when Hurricane Ida swept across the state.

Photo: Reuters / AP