  Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) with angular width $> 30^{\circ}$ have been
observed to occur at a higher rate during solar cycle 24 compared to cycle 23,
per sunspot number. This result is supported by data from three independent
databases constructed using Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph
Experiment (LASCO) coronagraph images, two employing automated detection
techniques and one compiled manually by human observers. According to the two
databases that cover a larger field of view, the enhanced CME rate actually
began shortly after the cycle 23 polar field reversal, in 2004, when the polar
fields returned with a 40\% reduction in strength and interplanetary radial
magnetic field became $\approx 30\%$ weaker. This result is consistent with the
link between anomalous CME expansion and heliospheric total pressure decrease
recently reported by Gopalswamy et al.
