text: First things first the title is wrong. We have presented many essays recently showing that hurricane activity is not increasing in terms of frequency and intensity or that any increase is simply a return to what was commonly observed decades or centuries ago. When we were writing about hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, or Gulf of Mexico (or even the Northeast Pacific), our use of the term hurricane was correct. These severe tropical storms appear in many other parts of the world, and when they occur over the Northwest Pacific Ocean and west of the International Date Line, they are called typhoons. Hurricanes near Australia and in the Indian Ocean are sometimes called Willy-Willies by the locals. However, in the scientific community, hurricanes, typhoons, and Willy-Willies are all called tropical cyclones.