Tropical cyclones, also called hurricanes and typhoons, cause catastrophic damage when they strike land. When a cyclone’s fury unleashes on population centres, death, injury and wholesale destruction follow. In this video we explore the life cycle of cyclones – how atmospheric conditions, ocean temperatures and the Earth’s rotation combine to create them, how they are driven by winds and eventually weaken after moving over land. This particular section explores how atmospheric conditions and ocean temperatures combine to create tropical cyclones.