In a new study, scientists have proposed expanding the classification system for hurricanes to include a "category 6" storm, citing the increasing intensity of hurricanes due to the climate crisis. The research suggests that hurricanes with sustained winds of 192mph or more should be considered as category 6 storms.

Over the past decade, five storms would have qualified as category 6 storms according to the proposed criteria. Mega-hurricanes of this magnitude are becoming more likely as a result of global heating, which is causing the oceans and atmosphere to warm. These findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Michael Wehner, a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, emphasized the severity of such storms, stating that sustained winds of 192mph are faster than most Ferraris and are difficult to even imagine. Wehner, along with James Kossin of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, proposed the new category 6 to highlight the increasingly dangerous nature of these storms.

The current widely used Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, developed in the 1970s, classifies hurricanes with sustained winds of 74mph or more as category 1 events. The scale rises in intensity with faster wind speeds, with category 5 including storms with winds of 157mph or more. However, the new study argues that a new category is necessary to encompass even more extreme storms that pose a greater risk to property and life.

The devastation caused by category 5 storms in recent years, such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Maria in 2017, highlights the need for a separate category for increasingly extreme storms. The study points to examples like Typhoon Haiyan, which claimed over 6,000 lives in the Philippines in 2013, and Hurricane Patricia, which reached a top speed of 215mph near Mexico in 2015.

While category 6 hurricanes have not yet been recorded in the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico, the study argues that the conditions are conducive to their formation, and it is purely a matter of luck that none have occurred thus far. Wehner notes that these storms have already become more intense and will continue to do so due to climate change.

Although the overall number of hurricanes is not increasing, the study highlights that the intensity of major storms has significantly risen in the satellite record of hurricanes spanning four decades. The warming of the oceans, combined with a warmer and moisture-laden atmosphere, is providing extra energy for hurricanes to intensify rapidly.

While the Saffir-Simpson scale has been effective in classifying hurricanes based on wind speed, it fails to fully capture the dangers posed by these storms, such as severe rainfall and coastal flooding. Wehner suggests that introducing a category 6 would raise awareness about the heightened risks brought by the climate crisis.

As the world grapples with the impact of climate change, various systems used to assess environmental conditions have been modified. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology, for instance, introduced the color purple to its weather maps to account for extreme heat. Similarly, the US government's Coral Reef Watch program recently added three new alert categories to address increasing heat stress experienced by corals.

While the official classification of hurricanes does not currently include a category 6, the study urges authorities to consider revising the scale to reflect the escalating impact of the climate crisis. As of now, the US National Hurricane Center has not responded to the study's proposal.