Recent migration of tropical cyclones toward coasts

Abstract

Too close for comfort Tropical cyclones are becoming stronger and occurring at higher latitudes than in the past. Wang and Toumi report that cyclones' points of maximum intensity also have been coming closer to land since 1982, the distance decreasing by about 30 kilometers per decade as their paths drift poleward and westward (see the Perspective by Camargo and Wing). This shift could increase the danger that tropical cyclones pose to coastal populations. Science , this issue p. 514 ; see also p. 458