Question

You record the sea temperature to be 28°C, the humidity to be very high, and a very light breeze. Do you expect a hurricane to form in these conditions? Explain why or why not.

Answer 1

28\(^o\)C is quite warm indeed for Earth's oceans, more than above the threshold for oceanic tropic convection.

Proof:
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts/science/hurricanes-and-climate-change.html

So yes, it's just how much surface area is exposed. Once it gets going it can continue growing until it reaches an equilibrium (partly due to geometry of a sphere, partly do to solar energy, partly do to gas density, and partly to do with thickness of the atmosphere), or has the equilibrium ruined when it hits land.

On planets without land such as Jupiter, hurricanes don't stop. The great red spot on Jupiter is a unending tropical hurricane (freezing cold by out standards, but it's the same thing essentially).

Answer 2

If we didn't have land, hurricanes would keep going non-stop and the big ones would absorb the little tropical storms, making one giant storm.

Answer 3

Thank you so much and I think I get it now. :)