Apart from wreaking havoc and killing a lot of people, Bopha's main effect was to nudge
annual cyclone activity back up towards something approaching the long - term norms.
NOAA has issued its
annual forecast for the hurricane season, along with its now - standard explanation that there is a natural cycle of multidecadal (40 - 60 year) length in the North Atlantic circulation (often referred to as the «Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation» — see Figure), that is varying the frequency of Atlantic tropical
cyclones, and that the present high level of
activity is due to a concurrent positive peak in this oscillation.