A study claims that climate change could push hurricanes further inland over the next several decades.

As environmental alterations brought about by global climate change become more severe, we’ve begun to see more tangible effects on the world around us. One major point is the prevalence and strength of tropical storms, with hurricane seasons of the last few years being especially long and severe. According to a new report, this may just be the beginning of a decisively windier future.

According to a report by nonprofit climate research group First Street Foundation, tropical storms and hurricanes, strengthened by the change in the global climate, will begin forcing their way further inland over the next 30 years. By their estimations, at least 13 million properties in the inner United States that are not currently affected by hurricanes could start to endure powerful winds in the not-too-distant future. While the environmental change is not projected to drastically increase the number of storms that form, they are projected to be much more powerful and long-lasting.

Today we published “The 7th National Risk Assessment: Worsening Winds”, and found over 13.4 million properties will be exposed to tropical cyclones in 30 years that are not currently. View the report: https://t.co/zchNdTyzg2 pic.twitter.com/EfeFHNgCYq

— First Street Foundation (@FirstStreetFdn) February 27, 2023

“As a strong storm comes ashore and gets cut off from its fuel source of warm ocean waters, the stronger the storm is, the better chance it has of penetrating deeper into the interior,” said Ed Kearns, First Street Foundation’s chief data officer. “So, you start to see risks show up like in western Tennessee. There are some patterns where how far inland they went kind of surprised me.”

“This shift in location and strength of hurricanes in Florida alone results in the number of properties that may face a Category 5 hurricane from 2.5 million in 2023 to 4.1 million by the year 2053,” First Street researchers wrote.