TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — While most impacts of climate change tend to be negative, here’s one that most would agree is not. In fact it may be exciting!
According to a recent study, Major League Baseball now sees more homeruns than it used to because of a warmer, more humid climate. And as the climate continues to warm, home runs in outside parks will continue to spike.
Baseball season has warmed by a few degrees all across the US due to climate change. The Tampa Bay Area baseball season has warmed by 3 degrees. Moisture in the air has also increased – a feedback of a warmer climate.
As a result a study found we now see around 60 more home runs than we used to a couple of decades ago. That’s because warmer – more humid air is less dense, which creates less drag, and allows the ball to travel farther.
For every 10 degree increase in temperature, the ball can travel 3 feet further. The climate has warmed by a little over 3 degrees, so that means the balls are now traveling ~1 ft further than back in the 1970s and that does not include the extra moisture, which adds more.
All told the extra 1-2 feet that the ball travels due to a changed climate, across all MLB games per year, means that we now see a few dozen more long balls per year.
In the future, as we continue to warm the Earth, it is estimated we will see hundreds more homeruns per season in the MLB by the 2nd half of the century. This applies – of course – to outside stadiums.
Jeff Berardelli is WFLA’s Chief Meteorologist and Climate Specialist. For the latest updates on Tampa Bay weather and climate, follow him on X and Bluesky.
