Timothy Skorski, age 7, of West Warwick, R.I., for his question:

HOW DO HURRICANES GET STARTED?

Hurricanes are made in the weathery sky when things up there are just right to get them started. The right place is high over a warm, sunny sea. The sun beats down for days on the shining waves. The air above gets warm and steamy. This huge mass of uncomfortable air begins to rise. Then from far and wide, cooler air begins to huff and puff and blow into the middle of the baby hurricane.

This causes a weathery tangle. Clouds begin to form, and the sky grows stormy. The windy air blows into the middle, and there it rises up to the sky above. As the huge storm grows stronger, the spinning earth twists its winds around. They swirl around in a great spiral, trailing their stormy clouds. Now the huge hurricane is ready to leave home‑‑and weathermen fly above to track its path. If it seems headed for the shore, the people are warned. If it stays out to sea, it soon wears itself out and dies down. Recently, meteorologists and other scientist have speculated that increased frequency of hurricanes is due to our planet and the ocean water getting warmer because of changes in the atmosphere, due to pollution.