Hurricane Ida came and stormed its way through the entire south and east coast of America. Hurricane Ida destroyed multiple states; New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Louisiana. The storm caused over 100 billion dollars worth of damage including major flooding, electrical damage, and even caused eighty-two deaths. In, Louisiana the temperature was, up to 90 degrees Fahrenheit which caused the National Weather Service (NWS) to issue a heat advisory, saying “The absence of some basic services amid high heat indices can make the situation very acute.” Hundreds of thousands of people were stuck in their flooded homes with no electricity, food or water. It seems each year inclement weather is getting worse. The question remains; is it due to climate change? According to the European Union, “Humans are increasingly influencing the climate and the earth’s temperature by burning fossil fuels, cutting down forests and farming livestock. This adds enormous amounts of greenhouse gases to those naturally occurring in the atmosphere, increasing the greenhouse effect and global warming.” Hurricanes form in warmer climate areas especially warmer water temperature areas. Hurricanes form when there is a small atmospheric disturbance located near or in a tropical ocean. When the water is warm enough, generally more than 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and the conditions are supportive enough with some moisture and uniform winds, a tropical storm can evolve. According to Nasa-Global Climate Change, the large global temperature which is causing climate change is creating more issues with the environment such as frequent and destructive hurricanes, warmer oceans, shrinking ice sheets, etc. 

          Lately, the setting of the ocean has not been exceptionally good due to the fact the water has been increasingly warm due to global warming. The storm initially formed around the Gulf of Mexico, taking in the unusual warm water. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, parts of the Gulf are around three to five degrees Fahrenheit higher than the usual temperature for the end of the 20th century. As the climate warmed, it caused the water temperature to increase higher and higher until finally, it was enough to create Ida. The storm evolved into a more enormous storm because of human activity in climate change. Each time coal, natural gas, oil, or any fossil fuel is burned it begins to affect the climate by releasing greenhouse gases into Earth’s atmosphere. Adding these pollutants into the air is creating the atmosphere to become warmer than ever before, also known as global warming. People had to borrow their neighbors’ generators, buckets, and various other objects needed to survive. They were left in their homes for days on end waiting for search and rescue teams to help them out of their flooded homes. To prevent even greater harm from natural disasters, humans must help the environment instead of wounding it.