What was done
The authors analyzed 122 years of tropical cyclone data for the north Indian Ocean over the period 1877-1998.

What was learned
For the 5-month tropical cyclone season (May-November), some months exhibited increasing trends and some exhibited decreasing trends.  When considered annually, however, it was shown that the number of hurricanes slightly declined over the entire period of record at a rate of -0.0082 per year.  Thus, the north Indian Ocean presently experiences about one less hurricane per year, on average, than it did in 1877.

What it means
In spite of the overall good news revealed in their data, it is interesting to note that the authors spent nearly the entire length of their paper providing further analysis and discussion solely for the months that exhibited increasing cyclone trends.  Is there a story here that transcends science?