Human-caused climate change is making major hurricanes like Melissa much stronger, faster and ultimately more life-threatening

Hurricane Melissa became one of the most powerful hurricanes on record to make landfall in the Atlantic Basin.

The National Hurricane Center's 8 a.m. Wednesday update reported that Category 2 Hurricane Melissa is 45 miles northwest of Guantanamo Cuba and 205 miles south of the Central Bahamas. The hurricane is moving to the north-northeast at 14 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph.

Hurricane Melissa on Monday became the third Category 5 Atlantic hurricane in 2025, and all of them surged up within days/ Why is this happening?

Hurricane Melissa strengthened into a Category 4 storm as it churned northwest through the Caribbean Sea on Sunday.

Article last updated: Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, 1 a.m. ET

It also marks the first time in 20 years that three or more Category 5 hurricanes have developed over the Atlantic Basin in one season. The last time was in 2005, when Hurricanes Emily, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma all reached Category 5—breaking a record.

So for now, a category 6 storm is just theoretical. But global warming is making storms more intense, with rising sea temperatures driving the winds faster and faster. Right now, the Caribbean is 2-3 degrees warmer than normal, so the destruction left behind by Melissa is climate change writ large.