News Climate

Hurricane frequency dropped during 17th century ‘Little Ice Age’

Shipwreck data tell tale of lull in heat-fueled ocean storms

Lord Ashburton

SAVAGE STORMS  The history of Spanish ships wrecked by Atlantic hurricanes suggests that hurricane activity stagnated between 1645 and 1715, a time when the sun dimmed. Hurricane-wrecked ships, such as the British Lord Ashburton (illustrated) sunk in 1857, litter the Atlantic Ocean seafloor.

Joseph Heard/Wikimedia Commons

By Thomas Sumner

- More than 2 years ago

Using records of ships wrecked by Atlantic hurricanes dating as far back as the days of Christopher Columbus, researchers have extended the hurricane record by hundreds of years.