When scientists work towards understanding a theory or method, looking into the past proves a useful tool. Studying the past of an area of science can link together other branches of science and their ideas in order to better understand the theory the scientist wants to prove. When predicting hurricane frequency, meteorologists have found it useful to look into the past in order to find the patterns between time and landfalling hurricanes. In order to accomplish this, these scientists must look towards other areas of science in order to produce this timeline of hurricanes.

Many scientists have attempted to forecast the United States hurricane climate through the use of probability. James B. Elsner and Brian H. Bossak focused on three regions of the United States (the East coast, Florida, and the Gulf of Mexico) where they studied the historical records of these areas in order to produce a pattern within the amount of landfalling hurricanes (Elsner 4341). They were able to produce statistics, but they realized in their study that the hurricane timeline must extend further back in time in order to produce more accurate results (4348). With more and more scien

Not only does the geological world affected by the passing of a hurricane, but the biological world also experiences changes. Plant life is affected severely by landfall hurricanes, and there is evidence of these alterations in the physical structure of trees. Tree rings have been a challenge to scientists for many years. With their knowledge of these markings, researchers can relate the different rings with different events in time,

Research was performed in the United States Virgin Islands near St. Croix where Hurricane Marilyn passed over in September of 1995 (Adams 341). Significant hurricane damage was documented through photos throughout the reef, but the damage differed from area to area (341). This brings a challenge to researchers, bringing yet again another obstacle to finding past hurricanes. If the data varies from place to place, it will be more difficult to verify the hurricane's intensity and even more if the hurricane even passed through (354). More study in this area must be done before the coral markings can be used to enhance the hurricane timeline.

A specific layer of sediments which has shown evidence of past hurricanes contains pollen. After a hurricane passes over an area, many plants are affected by the strong winds. "A hurricane-generated forest blowdown leaves a recognizable pollen signal in cores from lakes or estuaries in the landfall region ("Novel"). Dr. David Foster compares the pollen affected by current hurricanes to compare with core samples pulled which date back 12,000 to 18,000 years in the New England area ("Novel"). The only problem with this method of dating is that other natural events can appear in the pollen record such as forest fires (Travis 335). More research could help understand the difference between hurricanes and other catastrophe. This method hasn't been used to analyze hurricane frequency yet, but with more research in the area of pollen cores, the hurricane timeline could now extend even further back into time.

The forests of South Carolina were also studied after the passing of Hurricane Hugo. Concentrating on the vulnerability of longleaf pine to the catastrophic effects of a hurricane, they also found that tree rings have the ability to show scientists the year a hurricane passed and the degree of intensity of the storm (Doyle). The only problem with this method dating hurricanes is that the life span of trees does not extend that far back into time. Although the information is very valuable, this method would probably not be very effective at detecting prehistoric hurricanes.

The only way to continue with these studies is to look into the past. Therefore, the need for alternative studies is getting larger and could hopefully someday save property and lives affected by hurricanes.

A research team consisting of Professor Kam-biu Liu and his graduate student Miriam L. Fearn has found much success with this method of discovering past hurricanes. They began their study on Lake Shelby in Alabama where they were able to match sediments to the historical records of category 3 Hurricane Frederic, supporting the validity of their research (334). During the duration of their research, they discovered that they were only able to find sediments that pertained to category 4 or 5 hurricanes (334). This reveals the only downfall to their data; they could only collect sediments from intense prehistoric hurricanes.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2801
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)