NOAA: Reducing pollution > cyclones

 A new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) study, published May 11 in the journal Science Advances, over four decades of tropical cyclones reveals the that reducing air pollution in Europe and North America has contributed to increases in the number of tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic basin and decreases in the number of storms in the Southern Hemisphere. The study also found that the growth of particulate pollution in Asia contributed to fewer tropical cyclones in the western North Pacific basin. “Air pollution is a big environmental risk to human health and we have made great strides in reducing health risks by reducing particulate air pollution,” said Hiroyuki Murakami, a physical scientist at NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory and study author. “But reducing air pollution does not always decrease the risk of hazards from tropical cyclones.” (Source: NOAA 05/11/22) NOAA study: Reducing air pollution contributes to increase in hurricanes in North Atlantic | WorkBoat