[Binghamton_native]

Is this the article you referenced?

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/309/5742/1844

Table 1 in this article says 20 cat 4-5 hurricanes in the North Atlantic in the period 1975-1989, and 25 cat 4-5 hurricanes in the period 1990-2004. That would seem to work out to be an avg of 1.33 per year during 1975-1989, and an avg of 1.67 per year during the period 1990-2004.

[gondramB]

No it was an AP story.

Here is a link.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1126879973313_1/?hub=SciTech

I think these figures are worldwide.

"High category hurricanes on sharp rise: study Associated Press WASHINGTON — The number of hurricanes in the most powerful categories -- like Katrina and Andrew -- has increased sharply over the past few decades, according to a new analysis sure to stir debate over whether global warming is worsening these deadly storms. While studies have not found an overall increase in tropical storms worldwide, the number of storms reaching categories 4 and 5 grew from about 11 per year in the 1970s to 18 per year since 1990, according to a report in Friday's issue of the journal Scienc"