The role of natural cycles in hurricanes
The oceans experience a variety of natural circulation patterns, or oscillations, that influence the distribution of warm and cold water in the upper ocean. These naturally occurring oscillations affect ocean conditions on timescales ranging from just a few years to several decades and are known to affect the intensity of hurricanes.
During the warm, or El Niño, phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), for example, hurricanes are less likely to make landfall in eastern Australia and Atlantic hurricanes tend to be suppressed. However, El Niño conditions can boost typhoon risks in parts of Asia.
The presence of these natural oscillations can mask or enhance the potential influence of human-caused warming on hurricane activity. Recent scientific studies increasingly question whether human activities have contributed to observed shifts in natural circulation patterns.
~From The Union Of Concerned Scientists website
I am not a climate change denier but EVERYTHING I have read (that is peer reviewed) on this subject, indicated that severity of storms MAY BE OR IS EXPECTED TO BE impacted by anthropogenic factors but any increase in the quantity and severity observed so far may also be just the result of the observed increases in surface water temperatures.
deadeyedick wrote:
