MOSCOW, October 29. /TASS/. Climatologists have predicted increased hurricane intensity in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of North America as the world ocean’s level rises, Vladimir Chuprov, executive director of Earth Touches Me, told TASS.

Earlier, the Associated Press said that Hurricane Melissa was the strongest hurricane Jamaica had faced in 174 years of observation. It exceeded the 2005 Hurricane Katrina in intensity, which became one of the most devastating natural disasters in the history of the United States.

"Scientists and experts from the United Nations, Russian representatives of the climate scientific community say that these are anticipated events. It is in the plural. The number and scale of such dangerous phenomena as hurricanes and typhoons will occur more often," Chuprov said.

According to him, catastrophism is enhanced by rising sea levels, which boost the height of surge waves. To avoid totally catastrophic scenarios, it is necessary not only to adapt to hurricanes, but also to switch from burning coal, oil and gas to low-carbon energy, the environmentalist believes.

"Here is a simple example of the importance of reducing greenhouse emissions: the range of sea level rise by 2100 from 26 cm to a meter. That is, four times. And we can go through the lower bracket of the forecast. The lower limit, for example, is acceptable for St. Petersburg, but a meter is already becoming an extremely dangerous level, as the authors of the St. Petersburg adaptation plan say," Chuprov added.