La Niña-like ocean cooling patterns intensify northwestern Pacific tropical cyclones

The intensity and frequency of strong tropical cyclones, as well as cyclone landfalls, has increased in recent decades in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, raising speculation about the root cause of this surge in destructive Category 4 and 5 storms. Atmospheric researchers at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa (UH Mānoa) International Pacific Research Center (IPRC) have recently published a study in Scientific Reports that demonstrates a strong connection between sea surface temperature patterns associated with the Global Warming Hiatus and changes in cyclone activity over the northwest Pacific Ocean, particularly increasing intensities in coastal regions of East Asia.