Two of the most devastating hurricanes occurring in the same month has caused many people to ask one simple question: How?

It has been well documented over the past month the devastation that has occurred in Houston because of the category 4 hurricane named Harvey, and the continuing destruction of category 5 hurricane named Irma that left Florida in its path of destruction and is now heading up to Charleston, South Carolina.

Before I dive into the numbers, hurricanes have five categories, with category 5 being the highest.

According to the National Hurricane System, the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is the system used to put hurricanes into categories. In this system, categories 3 to 5 are considered major with category 3 winds gusting at 111-129 m.p.h., category 4 at 130-156 m.p.h. and category 5 at 157 m.p.h. or more.

Hurricane Irma’s wind speed was recorded at over 180 m.p.h., clearly making it a category 5 and one of the most destructive hurricanes in U.S. history , according to CNN.

The damage that these two hurricanes have caused is not hard to realize through all the videos and photos that have been posted all over the different platforms of social media like Facebook, Instagram and especially Twitter, which give first hand accounts about people living through the horrors of the damages caused.

The nation was put on notice because of the damage each hurricane left, but the bigger problem that has come about is the effect of climate change.

After seeing the devastation that two hurricanes have caused in such a short time, it forced to me realize that climate change is becoming a bigger issue than people need to start paying attention to.

You do not have to be a weather expert to realize that two destructive hurricanes occurring within such a short amount of time does not just happen by chance.

While hurricanes are a natural part of our climate system, recent research suggests that their destructive power, or intensity, has been growing since the 1970s, particularly in the North Atlantic region, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The growing destructive power of future hurricanes only puts people and infrastructures in such danger that when the next hurricane strikes, people can do little to protect themselves and must surrender as victims.

In order to help limit the destructive force of these natural disasters, we must start taking care of our environment, because we have the power to do so.

I think this is possible, because after a horrible disaster happens in this country, many Americans are so quick in lending out a helping hand to aid the rescue and relief efforts to those affected, which is great, but being able to help out potential future victims by helping prevent the destructive force of future hurricanes is another way to lend out a helping hand.

As Americans, when we need to react, we do a good job of coming together to help out those in need, but if we come together as a nation to prevent future natural disasters, that is an even better way to lend out a helping hand.

The biggest challenge with that is that there are so many people living in this country that realistically, it would be difficult to accomplish the goal of taking care of the environment as a whole at one time. But if everyone started doing their part here and there, we can gradually work our way to having a cleaner environment to limit the force of future natural disasters.