Climate change is one reason for hotter oceans. But there are others

Hurricane season is heating up: Hurricane Francine hit Louisiana last week and dumped rain across the South. There's lots of other stormy activity in the Atlantic right now — and forecasters are expecting more in the next few weeks.

One big factor is the warm water in the Atlantic and Caribbean, where these storms form. Abnormally warm water is bad news on a few fronts. It can help storms like Francine get really powerful, in addition to causing problems for fish and other marine species.

This is an issue in our oceans across the globe. Average global ocean temperatures have been in record-breaking territory for most of the last year and a half. Climate change is the main culprit, but in their quest to pin down the source for our hot oceans, scientists are investigating other suspects, including volcanoes and the sun.

Read more of Rebecca Hersher's reporting on this topic.

Questions about hurricanes or other weather disasters? Email us at shortwave@npr.org – we'd love to hear your ideas!

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This episode was produced by Rachel Carlson. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Rebecca Hersher checked the facts and the audio engineer was Kwesi Lee.

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