Scientists have known that hurricanes cool the sea as they roil the surface and bring cooler water up from below. But Knap notes that the effect on how the air and sea surface exchange gases had been unknown. The three scientists made a preliminary estimate that indicates hurricanes provide a significant secondary feedback to the global climate system. Seasonally, the ocean soaks up CO 2 from the atmosphere in winter. It gives back more than it absorbs in summer.
Hurricanes enhance that feedback.
What this means for long term global warming is unclear. Some scientists speculate that warming would bring more hurricanes and increase hurricane intensity. That, in turn, would increase hurricane CO 2 feedback. Chris Landsea with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration s hurricane research division in Denver calls such speculation overplayed. The research off Bermuda, he adds, is clearing up a little bit of the puzzle.