The argument over whether climate change is real has largely subsided — and, as nature abhors a vacuum, another tiff has risen to fill its place. What effect will global warming have on hurricanes? Them’s fightin’ words! Various studies have suggested that climate change will increase hurricane frequency and intensity, but new research by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration suggests that warming oceans will in fact reduce the number of Atlantic hurricanes that hit land in the U.S. Critics of the new study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, say the research is based on flawed data that was rejected by scientists on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
