2005 is on track to be the worst-ever year for hurricanes, according to experts measuring ocean temperatures and trade winds - the two big factors that breed these storms in the Caribbean and tropical North Atlantic.
Tropical Storm Risk, a London-based consortium of weather experts measuring trade winds and ocean temperatures, has predicted the Atlantic will see 22 tropical storms from June to November this year - the most ever recorded and more than twice the annual average since recording began in 1851.
Seven of these major storms are tipped to hit the US, and three are expected to reach hurricane status.
2003 and 2004 have the highest two-year totals of hurricane activity ever seen in the North Atlantic, with climatologists saying this coincides with rises in temperature caused by global warming.
Although the link between frequency of hurricanes and global warming is conjectural, the effect of climate change on their severity is considerably more solid.
Hurricanes form from thunderstorms over tropical waters that are warmer than 27.2 C, with the temperature difference between the sea surface and air above the storm the primary factor in storm strength.
Kerry Emanuel from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) published a study in July that found the strength and duration of North Atlantic storms had doubled in the past three decades with a rise in sea-surface temperature of only 0.5C.
Research by Kevin Trenberth of the US National Center for Atmospheric Research has also indicated that warmer seas provide more moisture for storms to absorb, resulting in much greater flooding when they release their payload.
Trenberth cautions there is no direct correlation between global warming and increased storm precipitation. But he echoes other climatologists in saying that scientific studies indicate that global warming is likely to cause a “shift” towards bigger and more frequent natural weather disasters.
Meanwhile, reports today from Japan say a typhoon moving towards Okinawa has strengthened today to a Class Five storm.
An official at Japan's Meteorological Agency warned that Typhoon Nabi could reach Okinawa by Monday and could curve up to hit Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu.
But cooler ocean temperatures near Japan mean Nabi is unlikely to have the same destructive power as Katrina, and strong prevailing winds will probably dissipate its force relatively rapidly once it approaches.
