But before scientists seek explanations for the connection they must make sure it's real, said Gabriel Vecchi of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association in Princeton, N.J. "There's an easy way to do an independent test for this," he said. "Go back and look back at Atlantic hurricane data from 1878-1950 to see if there's still this pattern." Only 13 percent of the world's hurricanes occur in the Atlantic Ocean. So if the moon is really influencing hurricanes, the signal should show up in Pacific and Indian Ocean storms, too. If the pattern persists through those tests -- and if the data aren't biased by any human tendency to perform scientific measurements on a monthly cycle -- then Yaukey may be onto something. "Those are two big 'ifs'," Vecchi said. "But if you get past those, then the subsurface ocean is where I'd look first -- internal tides do a lot of mixing." Related Links: Discovery Earth: Video, Expert Interviews, Photos and More |
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