Japanese researchers said Tuesday that the El Nino effect strengthens typhoons and thus increases typhoon-related damage in Japan.
The findings of a joint study by Ryuzaburo Yamamoto, professor emeritus at Kyoto University, and the Japan Weather Association will be presented at the annual meeting of the Meteorological Society of Japan, which begins today, the researchers said.
A study of typhoons between 1951 and 1999 shows that typhoons are stronger when the El Nino effect -- which warms sea temperatures in the Pacific Ocean off Peru -- is present.