ISTANBUL

Hurricane Melissa may have been made more likely and severe due to human-driven climate change, according to research.

Researchers at Imperial College London estimated that without the effect of climate change, the hurricane would have been roughly 12% less destructive.

The analysis stated that human-driven global warming raised the strength and the probability of powerful hurricanes.

Researchers also found that climate change, driven mainly by the burning of oil, gas and coal, increased Melissa’s wind speed by 7%, or 11 mph (17 kph).

According to the study, in a cooler world without climate change, a hurricane like Melissa would have struck Jamaica once every 8,000 years. But in today’s climate, with 1.3°C (2.3°F) of warming, such a hurricane is now four times more likely, occurring roughly once every 1,700 years.

A separate study by Climate Central scientists found that climate change boosted Melissa’s winds by 10%, and the near-record-warm ocean waters she crossed -- 1.2°C (1.2°F) above average -- were up to 900 times more likely due to human-driven climate change.

The storm caused severe damage, flooding and forced evacuations in parts of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba, claiming dozens of lives.