A warmer world worsens hurricanes, but what about Florence?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists say a warmer world makes for nastier hurricanes.

The storms are wetter, possess more energy and intensify faster. And their storm surges are more destructive because climate change has already made the seas rise.

Study after study shows that climate change in general makes hurricanes worse. But the role of global warning in a specific storm such as Hurricane Florence or Typhoon Mangkhut is not so simple — at least not without detailed statistical and computer analyses.

The Associated Press consulted with 17 meteorologists and scientists who study climate change, hurricanes or both. Although a few experts remain cautious about attributing global warming to a single event, most of the scientists see the hand of humans in Florence.