Eddie Annerton, age 10, of Huntsville, Alabama, for his question:

What forms a hurricane?

The airy atmosphere seems so fragile, but its masses of damp and dry air, warm and cool air are mixing and mingling on a global scale. Sometimes they stir up weathery warfare, such as a hurricane. This wild, wild storm begins as a vast mass of warm moist air, resting above the sea not far from the equator. As this air grows warmer, it spreads thinner and starts to rise aloft. This is the start of a hurricane.

Heavier air blows in from afar and gets swept aloft with the light, rising air in the center. The winds rush in faster and the spin¬ning earth twists to blow them in spirals. The hurricane is formed. Now the global winds carry the whole thing away over the sea and sometimes over the land. As it goes, the stormy winds coil into the center and rise aloft. At last, when the air is mixed and mingled, the wild hurricane dies down to a gentle breeze.