Study: Air pollution cuts hurricane activity

Higher levels of air pollution reduced the frequency of North Atlantic hurricanes and other tropical storms for most of the 20th century, according to a study.

Adding to evidence for mankind's impact on the weather system, the probe published on Sunday found a link between these powerful storms and aerosols, the scientific term for specks of matter suspended in a gas.

Aerosols can occur in natural form - as dusty volcanic plumes, clouds or fog - but are also man-made, such as sooty particles from burning coal or oil.

The study focused on particles from North America and Europe that were generated mainly from the burning of fossil fuels.

Researchers from the UK Met Office created weather simulations covering the period 1860 to 2050. They found that tropical storms were much less frequent during periods when emissions of man-made aerosols increased over the North Atlantic.

"Increases in anthropogenic emissions (particularly of aerosols) through most of the last century is found to have reduced hurricane activity," co-author Ben Booth said.