Chronology
1495: Christopher Columbus encounters a hurricane near Hispaniola
1780: the “Great Hurricane” kills 22,000 in the Caribbean (mostly men from the British and French fleets)
1807: creation of the Survey of the Coast, later on evolving into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
1950: creation of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) by the United Nations
1971: Bob Simpson creates the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale
1988: creation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
1992: Hurricane Andrew costs $26.5 billion, second costliest hurricane after Katrina (2005)
1998: Hurricane Mitch kills 11,000 in Central America (second deadliest since 1780)
1998: Henderson-Sellers et al. publish a study showing that there might be an increase in intensity of tropical cyclones (between 10 to 20%)
2001: The IPCC shows that it is likely to observe a future increase in the intensity of winds and precipitations for tropical storms. It also states that greenhouse gas emissions play an important part in the process of global warming.
2004: Thomas Knutson publishes a study showing that storms of category 5 will increase in intensity (1/2 category / 100year) and in precipitations (18% / 100year).
2004: The 4th report of the IPCC states that anthropogenic reasons are up to 90% of the global warming causes.
2005: The Hurricane season registers seven storms of categories 3, 4 and 5 (including Katrina and Rita), busiest season ever recorded.
May 2012: The National Hurricane Center modifies the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, broadening Category 4.