“———given how much energy Irma has sucked out of the ocean with her path.”
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I am NOT beings nasty here-——can a storm really suck energy out of the ocean?
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Yes, it can. A hurricane draws energy from the ocean waters. It tends to also pull up cooler water with its passage. It is well documented that any storm that closely follows an intense storm will have less fuel to work with until it gets away from that storm’s track.
Heat. That's where it starts.
Add a bit of movement (that had origniated from heat, and rotation of the planet, and tug of the moon, and everything and anything that can make something else -like, air- move), then keep stirring in more heat = more movement. Keep traveling over yet more water (with heat) pulling that energy up with the moisture.
= wind energy.
Gotta' admit. 185 winds are a lot of "energy".
Roughly speaking here. I'm just an amateur.
Yes. It’s the heat from the warm water that gives the hurricanes their energy.
If the water is above 80 F it feeds it. If it’s below 80, they die out.
That’s one reason they weaken as they go north.
Also, they stir up the water and bring the cooler water yup to the surface.
think of a hurricane as a large scale energy dissipation machine