Climate change is making hurricanes like Hurricane Helene more intense, scientific research shows.{beacon} Energy & Environment Energy & Environment   The Big Story  Warming likely increasing hurricanes' intensity, rainClimate change is making hurricanes like Hurricane Helene more intense, scientific research shows. © Max Chesnes/Tampa Bay Times via AP The proportion of hurricanes that fall into the more intense Categories 4 and 5 are expected to increase as the planet heats up, according to the most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United Nations' climate science authority.  “These hurricanes are getting bigger and stronger and that is due to simple energy transfer,” Claudia Benitez-Nelson, a climate scientist at the University of South Carolina, told The Hill. This is expected to continue and worsen as the planet heats up.   While estimates of just how much worse this will get can vary, if the planet warms by about 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) above pre-industrial levels, there could be about a 5 percent increase in a hurricane’s maximum wind speeds, according to Tom Knutson, a senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Lab. Benitez-Nelson also noted that climate change is causing hurricanes to intensify more quickly, potentially giving people less time to prepare.  Hurricane Helene went from a Category 1 storm to a Category 4 in less than a day amid unusually warm ocean temperatures.  In addition to increased wind speeds, Knutson noted that climate change is also likely causing more rainfall to occur during hurricanes.  He added that modeling shows every degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in the regional sea surface temperatures where the hurricane is leads to an average of 7 percent more rainfall.  Beyond climate change’s own impacts on hurricanes, these storms can combine with other climate impacts like sea level rise to bring about more damage.   “Our ocean has been rising, and so, of course it has an impact when a hurricane comes along because now the height of your water is already higher and then you've got the storm surge on top of that,” said Jennifer Collins, a professor at the University of South Florida’s school of geosciences.  Read more here.  Welcome to The Hill’s Energy & Environment newsletter, we’re Rachel Frazin and& Zack Budryk — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains.   Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.   Essential Reads  How policy will affect the energy and environment sectors now and in the future:  Western water managers prepare for dueling threats of flood and drought amid uncertain weather outlookWestern water managers are preparing for an upcoming season of potential weather extremes, but they remain uncertain as to which shape these events will take.  Full Story  More than 3 million without power after Helene landfallMore than 3 million Americans in the Southeast reported power outages related to Hurricane Helene on Friday, with states on the eastern seaboard from Florida to Virginia reporting more than 100,000 outages, according to PowerOutage.us.  Full Story  Boebert spars with reporter over climate, other issues Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) sparred with a reporter from Colorado Public Radio (CPR) over climate change, immigration and the general tone and content of his questions during an interview published on the publication’s website this week.  Full Story  In Other News  Branch out with a different read from The Hill: Democrats press corporations on lobbying spending ahead of tax fight Democrats want to know how much big companies are paying major lobbies to lean on lawmakers ahead of the tax code expirations that are set for next year.  Top executives at big companies, including Netflix, Ford and Tesla, received letters from Democratic lawmakers, demanding specifics on lobbying budgets and whether company boards approved them. Full Story   What We're Reading  News we've flagged from other outlets touching on energy issues, the environment and other topics: 'All must be beheaded': Revelations of atrocities at French energy giant's African stronghold (Politico Europe) Saudi Arabia ready to abandon $100 crude target to take back market share (Financial Times) Biggest LNG Exporter in the US Wants to Define Emission Rules (Bloomberg)   On Tap  Upcoming news themes and events we're watching:Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) will face off in the vice-presidential debate Tuesday.   What Others are Reading  Two key stories on The Hill right now: Harris narrowly beating Trump in 6 key battleground states: Polling Vice President Harris is narrowly leading former President Trump in six critical battleground states, while the candidates are tied in Georgia, according to new polling. Read more Amanpour: Melania Trump’s ‘mainstream media’ remark is ‘dangerous’ CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour is chastising former first lady Melania Trump over comments she made attacking the mainstream media in a recent interview. Read more  Opinions in The Hill  Op-ed related to energy & environment submitted to The Hill: Democrats should heed RFK Jr’s call for a more spiritual approach to the environment  You're all caught up. See you next week!  Close Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. Sign up for the Energy and Environment newsletter Subscribe