We’re only a month into the Atlantic hurricane season, and already, the boundaries that normally govern it are breaking. The cause is abnormally hot ocean waters—warmed by El Niño last year, but also by centuries of burning fossil fuels. Climate change “does not make a storm like Hurricane Beryl exist, but it certainly helped,” McNoldy said. Monster hurricanes like Beryl shouldn't happen this early. They shouldn't arise in this particular part of the Atlantic basin. And they shouldn't be intensifying at such astonishing rates, before the season has even gotten into full swing. But they are, and will probably continue to do so as long as our oceans continue to simmer.