Hurricanes and Climate Change

Tropical cyclones (such as hurricanes and typhoons) can have disastrous human impacts. There is substantial interest in the response of tropical cyclones to climate change, and recent evidence suggests they may also affect the dynamics of the climate system. Yet some fundamental issues remain unclear. An area of substantial research is the response of tropical cyclone activity in changed climates. There has been little work performed however on the question of whether tropical cyclones influence various components of the climate system. We have used our knowledge of the early Pliocene is to investigate this issue.