Intense winds associated with tropical cyclones (TC)s cool the sea surface temperature (SST) in the ocean, which can last for several days, acting as an effective barrier to the intensification of subsequent TCs that may pass over it, weakening their destructiveness. The time required for cold wakes to dissipate varies between different TCs depending on the storm state and, post-storm oceanic and atmospheric conditions. While multi-decadal observational datasets of SST have shown a substantial warming of the ocean, how long-term changes in the climate affect the cold wake recovery time is largely unknown. To address these knowledge gaps, in this study we compare the observed trends in SST recovery time after the passage of a TC in the North Atlantic Ocean. In the main development region (MDR), we detect a faster recovery of TC-induced cold wakes in the recent decades. This faster recovery contributes to a significant increase in the intensification of a later TC when it encounters the cold wake of a previous TC, an effect that is about 10% of the impact from long-term warming of the ocean. Furthermore, observations and numerical simulations show that the changes in atmospheric circulation in the MDR have become more favorable for faster recovery of cold wakes, and climate models project this might continue into the future.