Do hurricanes cool the earth?
Hurricanes can be viewed as having primary and secondary circulations. The primary circulation is what we see in satellite photos, comprising the winds and clouds that circle the low pressure zone at the center of the hurricane. The secondary circulation is a vast heat engine that provides the energy needed to sustain the primary circulation.


The low pressure cell at the center draws surface air toward the center, gathering moisture from the warm ocean along the way. This flow is more or less isothermal.
Humid air rises in the clouds around the center of the storm, releasing moisture along the way. This rise is more or less adiabatic.
The now dry air at the top of the troposphere flows outward and radiates energy into space. This flow is roughly isothermal.
Finally, the air falls in downdrafts at the outer edges of the storm. Like the updrafts near the eye wall, the flow in these downdrafts is more or less adiabatic. From here the cycle repeats.


This heat engine, powered by a hundred kelvin temperature difference between the warm oceans and the top of the troposphere, does a very nice job of locally cooling the Earth.