Modeled impact of anthropogenic warming on the frequency of intense Atlantic hurricanes.
Several recent models suggest that the frequency of Atlantic tropical cyclones could decrease as the climate warms. However, these models are unable to reproduce storms of category 3 or higher intensity. We explored the influence of future global warming on Atlantic hurricanes with a downscaling strategy by using an operational hurricane-prediction model that produces a realistic distribution of intense hurricane activity for present-day conditions. The model projects nearly a doubling of the frequency of category 4 and 5 storms by the end of the 21st century, despite a decrease in the overall frequency of tropical cyclones, when the downscaling is based on the ensemble mean of 18 global climate-change projections. The largest increase is projected to occur in the Western Atlantic, north of 20 degrees N.
Bender
Morris A
MA
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, 201 Forrestal Road, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA. Morris.Bender@noaa.gov
Knutson
Thomas R
TR
Tuleya
Robert E
RE
Sirutis
Joseph J
JJ
Vecchi
Gabriel A
GA
Garner
Stephen T
ST
Held
Isaac M
IM