When Hurricane Melissa slammed into Jamaica last week, it tied with two other hurricanes for the highest landfalling wind speeds on record in the Atlantic. This tropical cyclone’s unprecedented strength was fueled by unusually warm sea surface temperatures—a direct consequence of climate change.

Across the world’s oceans, rising ocean temperatures are driving extreme winds. A new study published today in the journal Nature Communications finds that this is a major problem for offshore wind farms . Though turbines are designed to capture the kinetic energy of wind and convert it to electricity, unprecedented wind speeds are pushing them beyond their limits.

The study’s authors, led by Yanan Zhao of China’s Southern University of Science and Technology, say their findings underscore

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