More hurricanes a-brewin’

A new study is linking significant increases in the number of hurricanes to global warming. Researchers from the Colorado-based National Center for Atmospheric Research and Georgia Institute of Technology say Atlantic Ocean hurricane numbers have more than doubled over the past 100 years.

Average hurricane numbers, claim the researchers, spiked in the 20th century, from 3.5 each year during the first 30 years to 8.4 each year in recent years. The rise occurred as ocean surface temperatures have risen .65 degrees, according to the researchers.

Critics have called into question the validity of the study, pointing out that statistics from early 20th century were taken prior to latter-day technology. Still, many of the increases have been charted in modern times.