On Thursday morning, Patricia was a relatively small Category 1 hurricane. By Friday afternoon, it was the most powerful storm ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere.

Is climate change to blame for this record-breaking storm’s ferocious rise?

The answer is complex, and shows why it’s so hard to tie a single weather event to global warming.

Between Thursday and Friday, Patricia underwent what hurricane researchers call “rapid intensification,” a phenomenon by which storms gather strength at an astonishing speed.

Read the article “Why Hurricane Patricia Can’t be Blamed on Climate Change” on kpbs.org.