*** Something’s happening out there: Your First Read authors don’t pretend to be meteorologists or Dr. NOAAs, but it’s hard not to look at the following data and conclude that something is indeed happening out there when it comes to the climate. Simply examine the history of named storms in the Atlantic. As many of you may know, a storm doesn’t get a name until it reaches Tropical Storm status. And the names are given each year alphabetically. For decades, getting to the back half of the alphabet was VERY rare. Now? Very common. Take a look: In the 1970s, there were just an average of under eight named storms per year; in the 1980s, the average was just under nine; in the 1990s, it was about 11; in the 2000s, it jumped again, to nearly 15 storms a year; and -- get this -- in the first three years of this decade (2010, 2011, 2012), the average is under 19. Specifically, we had 19 named storms in 2010, 18 in 2011 and, SO FAR, we’ve had 19 named storms (and there’s an entire month left in hurricane season).
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