1-in-284,000-Year Event In The Atlantic Ocean May Herald Exceedingly Violent Hurricane Season

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The temperature in the North Atlantic ocean is currently so high it has been described as a 1-in-284,000-year event that may herald a particularly violent hurricane season this year, Live Science reports. Often deadly and destructive, hurricanes are violent, rotating storm systems of clouds and thunderstorms that originate over tropical or subtropical waters and have closed low-level circulation.

The Atlantic hurricane season officially runs from June 1 to November 30, but experts have noted that the ocean’s “hurricane alley” – a belt of water that stretches from the west coast of Africa to Central America – is already presenting summer temperatures while still in mid winter. It is believed the high sea water temperatures are being driven by the El Niño climate cycle in which waters off the tropical eastern Pacific are warmer than usual, affecting global weather patterns.

In a post on the X social media platform, Brian McNoldy, the Senior Research Associate at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School, wrote: “Unbelievable: the North Atlantic sea surface temperature is now 4.5 standard deviations above the recent 1991-2020 climatological mean. That translates to a 1-in-284,000-year event. Yet here we are watching it unfold, one day at a time. This is deeply troubling.”

A degree higher than it was between 1981-2011, the average sea surface temperature is now around 68.5 degrees Fahrenheit (20.3 degrees Celsius) across the North Atlantic, including in “hurricane alley,” Live Science noted.

Commenting on the ongoing rise in sea temperature, Joel Hirschi, the associate head of marine systems modeling at the U.K. National Oceanography Centre, told Live Science: “What we see are phases of faster warming alternating with periods when warming is slower. The level of warming we saw in 2023 and now in 2024 is remarkable.”

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