Fig. 1: Global distribution of tropical cyclones (TCs) and regional contrasts.
a Global TC tracks from 1979−2020, with intensity indicated by color categories: tropical storm (TS; 17–24.4 m s⁻¹), severe tropical storm (STS; 24.5–32.6 m s⁻¹), typhoon (TY; 32.7–41.4 m s⁻¹), severe typhoon (STY; 41.5–51 m s⁻¹), and super typhoon (SuperTY; ≥51 m s⁻¹). Red boxes denote the regions selected for comparative analysis. b Spatial distribution of SuperTY occurrence rate (%), calculated as the proportion of SuperTY points relative to all TC points within each 1° × 1° grid cell. c, d Interannual variations in TC intensity (colored dots, m s⁻¹) and mean sea surface temperature (SST, bars, °C) in the South China Sea (SCS) and the Gulf of Mexico plus part of the Caribbean Sea (GMC) during the boreal summer and autumn. TCs that remained in the regions for at least 1 day were included. TC intensity was calculated as the maximum intensity of each TC within the region and then averaged over all TCs in each 3 year period, with error bars showing the 25th and 75th percentiles. Solid (Dotted) lines show statistically significant (non-significant) linear trends at a 95% confidence level. Numbers in the titles denote the percentage of SuperTYs in each region. [Inspired by Fig. 1 in ref. 26].
