Hurricanes were considered to be unpredictable until investigators began studying their pattern; however, accounts in the past were not recorded by The National Hurricane Center in the United States until the middle 1800's. In a study, researchers from Arizona State University used shipwrecks to map out cyclone activity in the Carribean.

The researchers examined more than 600 shipwrecks recorded by the Spanish government between 1495 and 1825. They were reportedly the first ones to use shipwrecks combined with tree-ring data to find that the years 1645 to 1715 had the lowest Carribean hurricanes since 1500.

Shipwrecks Proxy for Hurricanes in the Past

The researchers hope that by understanding and filling in the missing blanks of hurricane patterns in the past that they will be able to develop a better prediction model for the future ones.

"By combining shipwreck data and tree-ring data, we are extending the Caribbean hurricane record back in time and that improves our understanding of hurricane variability," said Valerie Touret, via a press release from UANews.

In the past, researchers only used lake sediments to keep track of hurricanes. New research provides hurricane records dating back to the 1500s to when Christopher Columbus was in the Carribean.

The low hurricane activity in the Carribean coincided with the planet going through "Maunder Minimum." During this period, the earth had low sunspot activity so it was cooler. Hurricanes happen on a major scale in warmer climates.

"We see a severe reduction in the hurricane activity that overlaps perfectly with the Maunder Minimum," Trouet explained.

She added that they weren't looking for the specific period -- it simply came out when they did their comparison and analysis.

Combining Tree-Ring Record Data

Smithsonian reports that tree rings can also be a viable marker for hurricanes as its coming reduces the growth of trees, the effects of which are reflected in their rings. However, there are special conditions that may affect the growth of the tree. Combining the two may make a more accurate representation of past hurricanes than the two by themselves.

Additionally, researchers discovered that the hurricane patterns they found by studying the shipwrecks were similar to the tree-ring records by the Florida Keys that went back to 1707.

The team's research is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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