Earth’s climate is warming and, in turn, is affecting our weather in many ways -- especially among tropical weather systems.

MIAMI Tropical Storm Rene was menacing the Cabo Verde islands on Tuesday after forming off the coast of West Africa. The Atlantics earliest known 17th named storm, Rene breaks the previous record of Rita, which formed Sept. 18, 2005. It was one of two storms that formed Monday; Tropical Storm Paulette took shape earlier in the day in the central Atlantic, far from land. Rene was centered about 40 miles (65 kilometers) south-southeast of Santo Antao with top sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kmh), and moving west at about 15 mph (24 kmh). Paulette, meanwhile, had maximum sustained winds were 50 mph (85 kph) with modest strengthening expected over the next few days.