Hans Karlsborn on Nostr: The image on the left is Miami, Florida in 1925. The image on the right is the same ...

The image on the left is Miami, Florida in 1925. The image on the right is the same view, approximately, taken in 2017.

If a high-end Category 1 or 2 hurricane struck Miami today, it would likely inflict more damage than a Category 4 or 5 in 1925. That’s because there is more stuff in Mother Nature’s destructive path now than there was a century ago.

This is precisely why there has been an exponential increase in the occurrence of billion-dollar disasters. It has nothing to do with climate change, especially as hurricane strike fraction in the U.S. and Florida has decreased over that period.

Tropical cyclones aren’t becoming more frequent, intense or deadly globally, but their landfalls come with a higher price tag because it’s convenient to build up infrastructure and economies along the coastline.