Eli5: Why do hurricanes get stronger in warm water? And are the sea based or sky based? (Cloud)
In: 5
A hurricane is a heat engine, driven by the temperature and enthalpy gradient between the warm, moist air at the ocean surface and the cold, dry air at the top of the troposphere. The warmer the ocean is, the more temperature gradient and enthalpy (in the form of water vapour in the air) there is to feed that heat engine, and so the stronger it can be.
That is also part of why hurricanes dissipate once they reach land. Going over land instead of ocean means they get cut off from the supply of warm, moist air that feeds them, in addition to the increased friction they experience over land vs over ocean causing faster energy loss out of the storm system.
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