Hurricanes are getting so strong in a warming world that a Category 6 intensity should be added to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind scale, a new study finds.
The paper, published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, does not represent an official move by the National Hurricane Center to add another hurricane category. Instead, it offers scientific reasons for the new category to be considered.
The researchers note that the top hurricane category — Category 5 — has no upper bound, despite the fact that the damage potential from such a storm’s maximum sustained winds increases exponentially.
