# What hurricanes would we have if the ocean got a lot warmer?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hurricanes-would-we-have-if-the-ocean-got-a-lot-warmer/171825>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 29, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hurricanes-would-we-have-if-the-ocean-got-a-lot-warmer/171825 "2003-04-29T01:36:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_With_The_Golden_Gun)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hurricanes-would-we-have-if-the-ocean-got-a-lot-warmer/171825/1 "2003-04-29T01:36:29Z")

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I’ve been wondering this for a while now. Hurricanes usually form in the Atlantic in waters of at least 80 degreees Fahrenheit. The warmer the waters, the stronger the hurricane. So what would happen if say, the Atlantic ocean heated up to 150 degrees? Or 200? How strong would the hurricanes get? What difference would it make?

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**Author:** ![The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_With_The_Golden_Gun)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hurricanes-would-we-have-if-the-ocean-got-a-lot-warmer/171825/2 "2003-05-01T01:23:32Z")

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Bump

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**Author:** ![brainchild876](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@brainchild876](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainchild876)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hurricanes-would-we-have-if-the-ocean-got-a-lot-warmer/171825/3 "2003-05-01T02:09:53Z")

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It’s hard to determine what kind of hurricanes of types of weather patterns there would be with water temperatures like that. You have to remember a temperature change on earth of just a few degrees can have major effects on weather all over the world. Also, even though water temp is a factor in the formation of a hurricane there are other factors such as upper air currents also. The atmospere and air currents are very fragile so it’s hard to predict what would happen.