This would make them whiter so they reflect more sunlight back into space, reducing the sea surface temperature - which is the primary driver of hurricanes.

BBC: Geoengineering: Risks and benefits

But by the Berkeley team's analysis, the global temperature correlates more closely with the state of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) index - a measure of sea surface temperature in the north Atlantic.

BBC: Global warming 'confirmed' by independent study

Kearns and a team of scientists led by Alan Strong of NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service analyzed sea surface temperature data from the agency's polar-orbiting satellites from 1984 through 1996.

CNN: Warmer tropical waters portend climate change

Although the temperature on Ascension has not changed appreciably in the past 30 years, sea-surface temperatures upwind of it jumped by more than a degree in the 1980s before levelling off.

ECONOMIST: Ascension Island