Britain’s Meteorological Office published a paper describing possible associations between aerosol pollutants and hurricane activity. The work is based on the assumption that there is an interaction between aerosols and clouds. This aerosol-cloud interaction is a process that is now being included in some of the latest generation climate models.

Dr Nick Dunstone, a Met Office climate prediction scientist and lead author of the research, said: “Industrial emissions from America and Europe over the 20th Century have cooled the North Atlantic relative to other regions of the ocean. Our research suggests that this alters tropical atmosphere circulation – making it less likely that hurricanes will form.

This research does not suggest a correlation between pollution and hurricanes. Instead, the authors based their conclusions on work assuming a dissociation of aerosol pollutants from other types of pollution. Readers should appreciate that modelling the impact of aerosols is one of the several uncertainties in climate science.