Warming Will Reduce Hurricanes: Study

Climate change is likely to trigger fewer hurricanes and tropical storms off the
Atlantic coast, not more, according to new research that contradicts an earlier study. But future hurricanes will probably be more powerful, according to the research published in Nature Geoscience. The number of tropical storms will likely decline by 27% and hurricanes by 18%, but the number of storm systems with winds of at least 100 mph could more than double, according to study simulations.

"This study does not support the notion that increasing greenhouse gases are causing a large increase in Atlantic hurricane or tropical storm frequency,'' said a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which conducted the study. "We simulate a reduction." A major study last year linked the increase in hurricanes the last century to warmer sea surface temperatures. The author of that study criticized "deficiencies" in the new research. (More global warming stories.)