(TNS) — As a ferocious hurricane bears down on South Florida, water managers desperately lower canals in anticipation of 4 feet of rain.

Everyone east of Dixie Highway is ordered evacuated, for fear of a menacing storm surge. Forecasters debate whether the storm will generate the 200 mph winds to achieve Category 6 status.

That is one scenario for hurricanes in a warmer world, a subject of fiendish complexity and considerable scientific research.

Some changes — such as the slowing of hurricanes’ forward motion and the worsening of storm surges from rising sea levels — are happening now. Other effects, such as their increase in strength, may have already begun but are difficult to detect, considering all of the other climate forces at work.

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http://www.govtech.com/em/preparedness/The-World-Has-Never-Seen-a-Category-6-Hurricane-but-the-Day-May-be-Coming.html