Earth in quiet period for hurricanes

[Boomer]

http://www.cnn.com/2000/NATURE/11/30/hurricane/

Earth in quiet period for hurricanes, researchers say

EIDT

The active 2000 hurricane season that ended Thursday might suggest that the storm onslaught can't get much worse. But the Earth is actually in a 10-century-long quiet period for hurricanes, according to researchers.

New research shows that hurricane activity runs in cycles spanning thousands of years. And while at least 113 major hurricanes hit the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic Coasts during the last 50 years, the 20th century is at the tail end of a 1,000-year quiet cycle.

"In the last 1,000 years, the hurricane activities have died down again," said Professor Kam-Biu Liu, of Louisiana State University. "There were relatively few intense or catastrophic hurricane strikes along the Gulf Coast."

But this year's hurricane season continued a three-year trend of above-average storm activity. Fourteen named storms hovered over the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, eight becoming hurricanes and three reaching major hurricane strength. Despite this, no hurricanes directly hit the United States this year.

EDIT