Increased hurricane activity linked to sea surface warming

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Composite satellite image of intense hurricanes Dennis Emily Katrina Rita and Wilma in 2005. The storms all made landfall around the Gulf of Mexico causing nearly $180 billion in damage. Image courtesy of Univ. of Wisconsin-CIMSS. Credit: UCL
Composite satellite image of intense hurricanes Dennis, Emily, Katrina, Rita and Wilma in 2005. The storms all made landfall around the Gulf of Mexico causing nearly $180 billion in damage. Image courtesy of Univ. of Wisconsin-CIMSS. Credit: UCL

The link between changes in the temperature of the sea’s surface and increases in North Atlantic hurricane activity has been quantified for the first time. The research - carried out by scientists at UCL (University College London) and due to be published in Nature on January 31 - shows that a 0.5°C increase in sea surface temperature can be associated with a ~40 per cent increase in hurricane activity.


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