Question: What had more effect upon the unusual hurricane season of 2005: climate change or ENSO?

During the hurricane season of 2005, the SST anomaly reached a record high of 0.92°C. This season occurred within a neutral year for ENSO; there was neither an El Niño nor a La Niña occurring. ENSO did have a warming effect upon the Atlantic, but not to the extent that it could be classified as an El Niño episode.

Analysts portioned out the factors that contributed to the unusually high SST anomaly of this year. You can see how much of the anomaly is attributed to each contributing factors in the pie graph to the right. This graph can be used to answer the question above.

Warmer SST provides one of the necessary conditions for hurricanes to form by increasing the humidity of the air. This provides a larger store of energy for a hurricane to harness. As the climate continues to warm, it is projected that hurricanes will become more severe.

Question: Name three consequences more severe hurricanes would have upon coastal populations.