Climate change can reduce the frequency of storms and tropical cyclones

Climate change appears to be reducing the likelihood of tropical cyclones around the world, researchers have found.

Satellite image of Hurricane Sam - the most powerful tropical cyclone to form in the Atlantic Ocean during the 2021 hurricane season.

The Daily Mail reports that experts at the University of Melbourne (Australia) found that the number of annual storms and cyclones has decreased by about 13% in the 20th century, compared with the period from 1850 to 1900.

For most of the seven tropical cyclone basins spread across the planet, declines in frequency have accelerated since the 1950s, mainly due to a weakening of the tropical atmospheric circulation. This suggests that climate change has reduced the number of tropical cyclones.

The only exception to this trend is the North Atlantic basin, where the number of tropical cyclones has increased in recent decades.

However, the number of annual storms is still lower than in pre-industrial times.

However, the University of Melbourne team notes frequency is just one of many factors that contribute to the dangers of tropical cyclones. And their study did not include changes in magnitude or location.

Tropical cyclones only form in low-latitude seas. This type of storm occurs when the sea surface temperature is 27 degrees Celsius or higher and the convergence of low-level winds causes the air to rise and form storm clouds.

Because historical data on the frequency of hurricanes and cyclones is incomplete, especially before 1950, experts have had to use a combination of past records and modeling methods. The study has just been published in the journal Nature Climate Change.