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Anti-hurricane technology
The Economist ^ | Jun 9th 2005

Posted on 08/31/2005 12:06:03 PM PDT by USFRIENDINVICTORIA

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How can you slow down a hurricane? Moshe Alamaro, a scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has a plan. Just as setting small, controlled fires can stop forest fires by robbing them of fuel, he proposes the creation of small, man-made tropical cyclones to cool the ocean and rob big, natural hurricanes of their source of energy. His scheme, devised with German and Russian weather scientists and presented at a weather-modification conference in April, involves a chain of offshore barges adorned with upward-facing jet engines. Each barge creates an updraft, causing water to evaporate from the ocean's surface and reducing its temperature. The resulting tropical storms travel towards the shore but dissipate harmlessly. Dr Alamaro reckons that protecting Central America and the southern United States from hurricanes would cost less than $1 billion a year. Most of the cost would be fuel: large jet engines, he observes, are abundant in the graveyards of American and Soviet long-range bombers.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: antihurricane; hurricane; miltech; technology
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This seemed a bit much way back in June -- now, I wonder whether it could be part of the solution.
1 posted on 08/31/2005 12:06:04 PM PDT by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA

I simply use my weather control machine.


2 posted on 08/31/2005 12:08:46 PM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (Warning.... Contents under pressure....If you don't like what I say, don't read it !)
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA

LOL...

first of all before even thinking about hairbrain schemes like this, one needs to come up with a way of transporting the needed rain to the us mainland that hurricanes deliver (remember the problem is people living on the coast, not the hurricanes...they are necessary)

2nd of all...why would they necessarily evaporate harmlessly?

3rd of all...it wouldnt work to begin with.


3 posted on 08/31/2005 12:08:59 PM PDT by dennis1x
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA

I can already hear the liberal whining... and see their signs... "STOP BIG WEATHER MODIFICATION NOW!".


4 posted on 08/31/2005 12:09:43 PM PDT by snowrip (Liberal? YOU HAVE NO RATIONAL ARGUMENT. Actually, you lack even a legitimate excuse.I'M TRYING TO OR)
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To: dennis1x

exactly.


5 posted on 08/31/2005 12:09:44 PM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (Warning.... Contents under pressure....If you don't like what I say, don't read it !)
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA

Did this guy bother to determine both the surface area of the Gulf of Mexico and the potential energy in that much warm sea water?


6 posted on 08/31/2005 12:11:07 PM PDT by dirtboy (Drool overflowed my buffer...)
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA

It will work, if we can build a barge 160 Miles in diameter...


7 posted on 08/31/2005 12:12:05 PM PDT by frogjerk (LIBERALISM - Being miserable for no good reason)
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To: dirtboy

The water temperature off NOLA is 88 degrees...much warmer than the minimum of 80 required for hurricane formation. It's a breeding ground for tropical storms.


8 posted on 08/31/2005 12:12:24 PM PDT by RockinRight (What part of ILLEGAL immigration do they not understand?)
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA

Smart. First they whine that humans are killing the planet, then they come up with an idea to actually stop mother nature from doing what she naturally does.

How about this, stop whining and move to Nebraska.


9 posted on 08/31/2005 12:13:55 PM PDT by kx9088
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To: dirtboy

Now, what if these big storms are only possible during a short period when the surface temperatures are within a narrow band.

If the water gets even a little bit warmer, the result might be more smaller storms and not more mega storms.


10 posted on 08/31/2005 12:14:10 PM PDT by coconutt2000 (NO MORE PEACE FOR OIL!!! DOWN WITH TYRANTS, TERRORISTS, AND TIMIDCRATS!!!! (3-T's For World Peace))
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA

Why don't we just build a giant refrigerator and start cooling the poles. Maybe we can build a giant icemaker and float some bergs down to the gulf of Mexico and Caribbean.

Better yet, how about a giant oceanbound dehumidifier to suck out the moisture. We can route the water to the deserts and farm the Sahara !!!!


11 posted on 08/31/2005 12:14:47 PM PDT by AbeKrieger (Islam is the virus that causes al-Qaeda.)
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA

I don't pretend to be a weather expert, but I wonder if something like this could be used to blunt tornadoes by proactively mixing the air where a tornado is likely to occur.


12 posted on 08/31/2005 12:16:26 PM PDT by babyface00
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To: AbeKrieger


How about a GIANT nuclear powered fan built on the gulf coast to blow unwanted to storms back out to sea? HAHAHAHAHHAAHa...right.


13 posted on 08/31/2005 12:17:28 PM PDT by in hoc signo vinces ("Houston, TX...a waiting quagmire for jihadis.")
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA

The $64 question in all this is what unintended consequences will flow from such technology, and are we sure those consequences won't be more harmful than the problem they are aimed at mitigating?


14 posted on 08/31/2005 12:17:42 PM PDT by Moosilauke
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To: coconutt2000
If the water gets even a little bit warmer, the result might be more smaller storms and not more mega storms.

The energy in a single thunderstorm exceeds that of a Hiroshima-sized bomb.

How much energy do you think was in Katrina? Probably close to our entire nuclear arsenal.

And we're gonna put a dent in that by towing a few oversized fans around in the Gulf?

15 posted on 08/31/2005 12:18:49 PM PDT by dirtboy (Drool overflowed my buffer...)
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA

His scheme, devised with German and Russian weather scientists and presented at a weather-modification conference in April, involves a chain of offshore barges adorned with upward-facing jet engines.

"With my Weather Machine...I'll RULE THE WORLD!"

16 posted on 08/31/2005 12:19:38 PM PDT by Itzlzha ("The avalanche has already started...it is too late for the pebbles to vote")
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To: kx9088
How about this, stop whining and move to Nebraska.

Because if you move to Nebraska, you have to come up with a tornado-prevention machine. Sheesh, some people just don't think. :)

17 posted on 08/31/2005 12:19:56 PM PDT by Terabitten (God grant me the strength to live a life worthy of those who have gone before me.)
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To: AbeKrieger
Not laughed this hard in a logn time! Feels really good. Thanks
18 posted on 08/31/2005 12:20:02 PM PDT by don-o (Don't be a Freeploader. Do the right thing and become a Monthly Donor!)
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA
I suggest we tow a Giant Ice Berg in the path of the Hurricane. Or we could use it for Whiskey and Coke.
19 posted on 08/31/2005 12:20:13 PM PDT by stocksthatgoup (Polls = Proof that when the MSM want your opinion they will give it to you.)
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA

If everyone on the gulf coast flushed their toilets at the same time, maybe ....


20 posted on 08/31/2005 12:20:31 PM PDT by mbynack
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