Why This Hurricane Season Is So Important to Scientists

  • Some scientists say cooling may mean fewer storms for decades
  • Others reject the idea that the ocean is cooling at all

waves

Photographer: Derick E. Hingle/Bloomberg
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

This summer and fall, the Atlantic Ocean might become a testing ground for competing scientific theories.

After decades of warmth, there’s evidence that the ocean is cooling, a change that could mean fewer of the hurricanes that wreak havoc on coastal communities and their economies.