Storm instensity/rising temps -- a new study

In an AP story that ran 9/16/05 in the NY Times-- "The number of storms in the two most powerful categories, 4 and 5, rose to an average of 18 a year worldwide since 1990, up from 11 in the 1970's, according to the report, which will be published in the journal Science....There was no increase in storms over all, the researchers said, just in their intensity. But the rise in intensity, they said, coincided with an increase of nearly 1 degree Fahrenheit in the surfaces of tropical seas around the world."

still, the AP counters the upcoming Science article with a skeptical quote from a meteorologist who calls the 1970s study data into question. where does this leave the reader?