WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana -- Purdue University researchers have
found evidence that tropical cyclones and hurricanes play an
important role in the ocean circulation patterns that transport
heat and maintain the climate of North America and Europe. These
findings support a 2001 theory by Kerry Emanuel, a professor of
atmospheric science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
and suggest that there is an additional factor to be included in
climate models that may change predictions of future climate
scenarios. "It was thought that hurricanes occurred over too
short of a time period and over too small of an area to affect
the global system," said Matthew Huber, the Purdue University
professor of earth and atmospheric sciences who led the research
group. "This research provides evidence that hurricanes play an
important role and may be one of the missing pieces in the
climate modeling puzzle." The research also showed that
hurricanes cool the tropics, forming in response to higher
temperatures and acting as a th