Colorado State University (CSU) issued its hurricane season forecast Thursday and the numbers appear significantly above normal.

is 5 degrees Fahrenheit above normal.While warmer water temps in the Gulf this time of year do not necessarily translate to a greater number of hurricanes.

This is especially true in the subtropical Atlantic close to the U.with winds greater than 74 mph; Six is the usual amount per year.there is a strong connection between ENSO and the degree of tropical activity in the Atlantic basin.

When ENSO is in its warm El Nio phase.they are becoming increasingly prominent.

climate scientists call this a threat multiplier.

including sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic.When the researchers found the core.

co-author Professor Ulrich Salzmann.a geologist at the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research in Germany.

global temperatures were much higher than they are today.The temperatures of rivers and swamps reached up to 68 degrees Fahrenheit even though the region experienced no sunlight for one-third of the year.