What’s New: In Brief (February 23, 2010)

Greenhouse warming will cause the globally averaged intensity of tropical cyclones to shift towards stronger storms, with intensity increases of between 2% and 11% by 2100, says an article published in Nature Geoscience.
“Existing modelling studies also consistently project decreases in the globally averaged frequency of tropical cyclones, by 6–34%,” says an abstract of the study, co-authored by a panel of 10 researchers associated with the World Meteorological Organization.
“Balanced against this, higher-resolution modelling studies typically project substantial increases in the frequency of the most intense cyclones, and increases of the order of 20% in the precipitation rate within 100 km of the storm centre,” the abstract says.

The United Kingdom’s recession could bring a sharp rise in the number of burglaries, Lloyd’s of London has warned in an online article.
“According to consultant Deloitte LLP, prior to the last recession in 1990–92 the number of domestic theft claims was around 400,000 per year,” Lloyd’s says in its post. “But by the end of the recession, theft claims had increased to nearly 900,000 per year.”
In its online article, ‘Rich pickings for burglars as recession bites,’ Lloyd’s notes that, following the 1990-92 recession, “it took many years before theft claims were once again at a level below 500,000 per year.”