A new study conducted by The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) study has found that cleaner air is leading to more hurricanes, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances on Wednesday. The research indicates that a 50 percent decrease in pollution in Europe and the U.S. correlates to a 33 percent increase in Atlantic storm formation over the past couple of decades. You can read more at Could cleaner air lead to more hurricanes? A new study suggests so (interestingengineering.com). The cleaner air is also linked to the reduction of the “warming hole” formerly seen in the Southeast. Modeling has shown that the lack of warming in the Southeast in the decades before the 1970 Clean Air Act was due in part to the heavy load of aerosol pollution that blocked sunlight and kept temperatures lower here than in other parts of the United States.

Terra MODIS image of Hurricane Matthew from Oct. 7, 2016. SPACE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING CENTER (SSEC), UW–MADISON