With record high temperatures all over the world, why aren’t there hurricanes in the north Atlantic?

Question

With record high temperatures all over the world, why aren’t there hurricanes in the north Atlantic?

In: 32

Answer 1

The baseline of global temperatures is undergoing a steady increase…but the record high temperatures this year are likely mostly due to El Nino. This phenomenon also tends to create a lot of wind shear in the tropics, which destroys hurricanes.

Also, just raising sea surface temperatures in the north Atlantic by a couple of degrees isn’t enough to make them warm enough for tropical development/maintenance.

Also, if you look at what happens to hurricanes when they move far from the equator, they sort of get elongated. The Coriolis effect is stronger when you get closer to the poles, so there’s going to be transition to sub-tropical or extra-tropical storms even if there’s a lot of energy from the ocean feeding the storms. The Coriolis effect is not going to change as the planet warms.