Tropical Cyclone Frequency: Turning Paleoclimate Into Projections

Future changes to tropical cyclone (TC) climate have the potential to dramatically impact the social and economic landscape of coastal communities. Paleoclimate modeling and paleohurricane proxy development offer exciting opportunities to understand how TC properties (like frequency) change in response to climate variability on long time scales. However, sampling biases in proxies make it difficult to ascertain whether signals in paleohurricane records are related to climate variability or just stochasticity. Short observations and simulation biases prevent TC models from capturing the full range of climate variability and TC characteristics. Integration of these two data types can help address these uncertainties. Robust data model comparison in paleotempestology will require (a) simulating TCs using new paleoclimate data assimilation products and climate model ensembles, (b) building a central repository of open access paleohurricane proxies, (c) compiling paleohurricane records, and (d) filling key gaps in the existing paleohurricane networks. Incorporating the combined information from both paleohurricane proxies and paleo TC simulations into risk assessments for coastal communities could help improve adaptation strategies.