Global warming;throwing up cyclonic storms

Meteorologists are predicting a more active hurricane season than usual this year, but there is no way to know whether global warming has caused an individual event such as a hurricane or whether it has made such storms worse. On the other hand, some scientists argue that storms such as Gustav are more likely in a warming world, because warmer seas make more powerful storms.

Last year's report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said it was 'likely' that global warming would make future cyclones more intense. Studies of hurricane records suggest this trend can already be seen.

Some scientists have linked an increasing number of hurricanes in the north Atlantic to global warming. Although, globally the number of tropical storms each year has hovered around 90 over the past century, in the north Atlantic there has been a clear increase. From 1850-1990, the overall average number of tropical storms in the north Atlantic was about 10, including about five hurricanes. Since 1995, the 10- year average has risen with the 1997-2006 average at about 14, including about eight hurricanes.

Global warming has certainly thrown a number of occurrences.