Hurricanes may be more intense says expert

The thinking that warmer ocean temperatures will produce more hurricanes has changed says a hurricane expert.

Columbia University's Initiative on Extreme Weather and Climate director Adam Sobel said recent climate models suggest the number of hurricanes will not increase with climate change.

But while they may not increase and may even decrease, the hurricanes that do form will be more intense.

"We're pretty confident that hurricanes are getting stronger as the climate warms. So really, really strong ones like Haiyan which devastated the Philippines a couple of years ago are likely to become more frequent. Which is not really a comforting prediction because the most intense ones do by far the most damage." said Sobel.

Sobel says the hurricanes will be Category 3 or higher. Hurricanes Juan and Sandy were Category 2 hurricanes.

"The models also show there will be more rain with these hurricanes and sea level rise will increase damaging storm surges."