Hurricane the Anatomy

Many begin as harmless breezes from Northern Africa; winds that gradually move westwards over the tropical Atlantic Ocean, gathering energy from the warm seawater, building in strength and gradually forming the unmistakable spiral of extreme winds and thunderstorms that characterize hurricanes.

While humans try to predict the future, the natural world has evolved over millions of years to deal with the strongest storms on earth as and when they arrive. Some run; others hide. This episode looks at varying strategies used by plants and animals that live in the hurricane zone.

For millennia, hurricanes have threatened the Eastern USA, the Caribbean, and parts of Latin America. But changes to global climate have serious consequences for the future: rising sea-levels mean that storm surge from hurricanes will impact ever further inland.