🌀 How Climate Change Fueled Hurricane Melissa

🌀 How Climate Change Fueled Hurricane Melissa

Hurricane Melissa strengthened from a tropical storm with 70mph winds to a Category 4 hurricane with 140mph winds in just 24 hours, and eventually strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane before making landfall in Jamaica. Exceptionally warm ocean waters that were 2.5F warmer than average aided in the rapid intensification of Melissa and were made up to 700 times more likely due to human-caused climate change. The unusually warm ocean conditions combined with overall tropical climate warming is projected to have increased Melissa’s top wind speed by about 10mph and increased its potential damages by up to 50%. The warmer ocean temperatures also contributed to heavier rainfall and greater flooding impacts at landfall, with some areas of Jamaica receiving up to 20-30 inches of rain.

Climate Central

👨🏻‍💼The 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders of 2025

As the United States has continued backing away in 2025 from using legislation to tackle the climate crisis, business leaders around the globe have stepped up in an attempt to fill the gaps. TIME vetted influential leaders around the world driving business climate action and compiled a list of the top 100 decision-makers, executives, researchers, and innovators working to help unlock the necessary funding and resources needed for successful and equitable climate action. Some of the notable names on the list include: Tyler Norris, a former Duke researcher who published a study on how we can make AI data centers’ power use more sustainable; Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, the president of Suriname who is launching forest protections to keep the country one of just three carbon-negative countries in the world; and Pralhad Joshi, India’s renewable energy minister who has set some of the world’s most ambitious renewable energy goals. TIME hopes that the stories of these 100 climate leaders will influence others to join the fight against climate change.

TIME

📑 2025 State of the Climate Report

A recent report published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences says we are hurtling toward climate chaos, and the planet’s vital signs are flashing red. Key highlights of the report include the following. 2024 set a new mean global surface temperature record. 22 of the 34 planetary vital signs are at record levels. Fossil fuel energy consumption hit a record high in 2024, but so did solar and wind consumption. So far in 2025, atmospheric carbon dioxide is at a record level. Global fire-related tree cover loss reached an all-time high. Ocean heat content reached a record high, affecting 84% of reef area. So far in 2025, Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets are at record lows and may be past tipping points. Deadly and costly disasters surged, with Texas flooding killing at least 135 people and the California wildfires alone exceeding $250 billion in damages.

Oxford Academic