Tropical storms appear headed for the Poles, peaking in ferocity at successively higher latitudes over the past three decades, according to a new study in the journal Nature. (Related: "Hurricanes 101.")

Climate scientists generally predict that tropical storms (called hurricanes, typhoons, or cyclones, depending on the ocean where they form) will increase in power but decline in frequency in coming decades due to global warming.

But the storms also appear to be on the move—driven by warmer oceans and wind-shear changes in the upper atmosphere—according to the Nature study, led by James Kossin of the NOAA National Climatic Data Center. "The poleward trends are evident in the global historical data," says the study.

Looking at satellite observations from 1982