25 years of severe storms

The 2005 hurricane season has spawned three of the most intense Atlantic storms on record with Katrina, Rita and now Wilma fuelling the debate over global warming's impact on hurricanes.

Yet even weather experts convinced that global warming is a serious threat caution against blaming climate change.

While Wilma on Wednesday briefly became the most powerful Atlantic hurricane on record in terms of its barometric minimum pressure, at 882 millibars, that did not mean it was the strongest hurricane ever.

Similarly powerful storms could have occurred in the 1940s and 1950s, said Jeff Masters, chief meteorologist for weatherunderground.com.

Experts say the Atlantic in 1995 swung back into a multi-decade period of heightened storm activity that could last another 25 years.

The 2004 season, which saw four hurricanes slam into Florida in a six-week period, kicked off the increased storm activity with a bang, and few expected it to be surpassed.

But with six weeks of the Atlantic hurricane season still to go, 2005 has already tied the 1933 record for the most tropical storms in one season with 21, and the 1969 record for the most hurricanes with 12.

- REUTERS