Sunspots may be affecting hurricane intensity, study says

Darkfrog submitted, created time 1 month 3 weeks (www.nature.com)

While recent data have suggested that the Earth's warming climate has altered the intensity balance of storms to favor more intense and dangerous hurricanes, there may be an additional factor at work: The solar cycle.

A team at Florida State University has examined storm data going back a century. There appears to be a twelve-year storm cycle that corresponds with the rise and fall of magnetic activity on the sun.

This suggestion--which attributes some of our changing climate to non-manmade activities--has not gone unchallenged. Other scientists are questioning the team's methods and conclusions. The mechanism by which solar activity is assumed to affect storms (increased UV rays hitting the upper atmosphere) in particular seems subject to review. However, all parties seem to be in agreement that this is a topic that merits further study.

Keywords: global warming climate change ecology meterology sunspots solar cycle hurricanes storms storm intensity politics global climate change