The Sun is the real engine behind hurricanes: here’s how solar radiation awakens the ocean’s monsters

Wind and rain are only the visible part of a hurricane. Behind its immense power lies a process that begins long before it forms, as the sun heats the oceans.

The ocean is the planet’s largest heat reservoir, storing solar energy for weeks, months and even years.

What comes to mind when you think of a hurricane? Most people picture destructive winds, torrential rain and powerful waves. But behind that often devastating force lies a much less obvious driving factor.

Thanks to their enormous capacity to store heat—about four times greater than that of air—the oceans serve as the climate system’s largest energy reservoir.

It all begins with the sun. About 50–51% of the solar radiation reaching our planet is absorbed by Earth’s surface, with the oceans taking in most of that energy because they cover such a large portion of the globe. Without this energy, tropical cyclones simply could not form.

The ocean: a battery charged by the sun

For months, especially in the tropics, the ocean absorbs vast amounts of solar energy and stores it as heat. It’s not just the surface that warms. The upper layers of the ocean accumulate a large energy reserve known as ocean heat content.

In the North Atlantic and the eastern North Pacific, September sees the highest number of hurricanes because the ocean has spent the summer storing vast amounts of solar energy.

The next stage begins as seawater starts to evaporate. That water vapor rises into the atmosphere and, as it cools, condenses into clouds and rain. During this

Original Record.

This archived record authored by ‘Dainet Sierra’ at ‘METEORED (Your Weather)’ was recovered from data set:

https://www.yourweather.co.uk/news/trending/the-sun-is-the-real-engine-behind-hurricanes-here-s-how-solar-radiation-awakens-the-ocean-s-monsters.html