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Intense hurricane activity over the past 5,000 years controlled by El Niño and the West African monsoon

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  • Jeffrey P. Donnelly

    (Coastal Systems Group, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 360 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA)

  • Jonathan D. Woodruff

    (Coastal Systems Group, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 360 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA)

Abstract

Windy lagoon The instrumental record of hurricanes is comparatively short, one reason why the factors controlling hurricane activity remain poorly understood. Jeffrey Donnelly and Jonathan Woodruff have overcome this problem by constructing a long-term record of hurricane activity in the western tropical North Atlantic Ocean. The storms associated with intense hurricanes that strike the island of Vieques in Puerto Rico deposit layers of coarse, sandy material in a lagoon on the island. Sediment cores from the lagoon have been used to work out the frequency of intense hurricane strikes over the past 5,000 years. The record shows striking similarities to records of El Niño events and rainfall in tropical Africa, suggesting that changes in the El Niño/Southern Oscillation and the strength of the West African monsoon have played an important role in controlling the frequency of intense hurricanes in the tropical North Atlantic.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeffrey P. Donnelly & Jonathan D. Woodruff, 2007. "Intense hurricane activity over the past 5,000 years controlled by El Niño and the West African monsoon," Nature, Nature, vol. 447(7143), pages 465-468, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:447:y:2007:i:7143:d:10.1038_nature05834
    DOI: 10.1038/nature05834
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    Cited by:

    1. Sumet Phantuwongraj & Montri Choowong, 2012. "Tsunamis versus storm deposits from Thailand," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 63(1), pages 31-50, August.
    2. Corinne L. Hofman & Charlotte Eloise Stancioff & Andrea Richards & Irvince Nanichi Auguiste & Augustine Sutherland & Menno L. P. Hoogland, 2021. "Resilient Caribbean Communities: A Long-Term Perspective on Sustainability and Social Adaptability to Natural Hazards in the Lesser Antilles," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-21, August.
    3. Nguyen, Thanh Cong & Robinson, Jackie & Kaneko, Shinji & Komatsu, Satoru, 2013. "Estimating the value of economic benefits associated with adaptation to climate change in a developing country: A case study of improvements in tropical cyclone warning services," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 117-128.
    4. Yang Yang & David J. W. Piper & Min Xu & Jianhua Gao & Jianjun Jia & Alexandre Normandeau & Dongdong Chu & Liang Zhou & Ya Ping Wang & Shu Gao, 2022. "Northwestern Pacific tropical cyclone activity enhanced by increased Asian dust emissions during the Little Ice Age," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    5. Jan Smit & Cor Laffra & Karlien Meulenaars & Alessandro Montanari, 2012. "Probable late Messinian tsunamiites near Monte Dei Corvi, Italy, and the Nijar Basin, Spain: expected architecture of offshore tsunami deposits," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 63(1), pages 241-266, August.
    6. Andrew Ashton & Jeffrey Donnelly & Rob Evans, 2008. "A discussion of the potential impacts of climate change on the shorelines of the Northeastern USA," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 13(7), pages 719-743, August.
    7. Ernest Molua, 2009. "Accommodation of climate change in coastal areas of cameroon: selection of household-level protection options," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 14(8), pages 721-735, December.
    8. Wenchang Yang & Elizabeth Wallace & Gabriel A. Vecchi & Jeffrey P. Donnelly & Julien Emile-Geay & Gregory J. Hakim & Larry W. Horowitz & Richard M. Sullivan & Robert Tardif & Peter J. Hengstum & Tyler, 2024. "Last millennium hurricane activity linked to endogenous climate variability," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    9. Suzanne E. Palmer & Michael J. Burn & Jonathan Holmes, 2020. "A multiproxy analysis of extreme wave deposits in a tropical coastal lagoon in Jamaica, West Indies," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 104(3), pages 2531-2560, December.

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