Posted on 10/14/2021 12:07:32 PM PDT by nickcarraway
SCIENTISTS are working on a cutting-edge new way to tame and control hurricanes before they reach land masses and cause havoc.
Climate change poses a catalogue of risks to the planet. Human-induced warming will make parts of the world uninhabitable, and vital crops may become extinct. Insects will disappear and disrupt the food chain from the bottom up, all leading to catastrophic change for humans.
Another aspect of the climate crisis is the increased instance of natural disasters, with one of the most serious problems being rising sea temperatures.
Warmer oceans mean rising sea levels, melting ice caps and more extreme weather events, among them hurricanes.
Now, however, a Norwegian company claims to have discovered a way to mitigate the rise of destructive hurricanes: by blowing bubbles.
OceanTherm, founded by Olav Hollingsæter, a former naval officer, is developing a system that uses bubbles to cool the surface temperature of the sea by drawing up cold water from the oceans' depths.
Hurricanes are created when hot and cold air meet over warm ocean waters of 26.5°C or above.
The warmer the water, the more powerful a hurricane can become, as seen in recent devastating cyclones in years past.
But water below 26.5°C has neither the heat nor sufficient levels of evaporation to feed a hurricane.
This will either reduce the strength of the storm — and chances of making landfall — or prevent one forming in the first place.
OceanTherm's idea is to lower perforated pipes deep into the ocean through which to blow compressed air.
The air would create bubbles that would draw cooler water up to the surface and reduce its temperature to below 26.5°C.
The pipes would be deposed from a fleet of ships patrolling areas known to form hurricanes, places like the Gulf of Mexico.
They would then create a "bubble curtain" in a hurricane's path to diminish it, potentially "stopping them in their tracks", according to BBC Science Focus magazine.
And yet, the idea is an old one, with OceanTherm simply applying a new technique.
DON'T MISS
Norway has been using bubble curtains for years to prevent fjords from freezing in the winter.
But in this case the bubbles bring warmer water to a surface that’s being chilled by cold winter air.
The company's proposal has yet to be tested on a hurricane, and Hollingsæter admits a lot of research and development is needed to make it viable.
Many believe the task is not even possible.
Bill McGuire, Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at University College London, told Science Focus: "There’s a huge difference between keeping a fjord from icing over and weakening a tropical cyclone with the power of several thousand nuclear bombs and up to a thousand kilometres, or more, across."
Hurricanes facts: Florida is hit by 40 percent of the hurricanes that form in the US
The practicalities and cost will be a huge factor.
Its estimated bill comes out at around $500million (£366m) to set up and $80m (£58m) a year to run.
However, this is balanced out when the cost of a hurricane — $54billion (£40bn) annually according to the US Government’s Congressional Budget Office — is taken into consideration.
Professor McGuire said: "The way to mitigate the effects of a landfalling hurricane is via better forecasting, improved land-use planning, more resilient construction, local engineering solutions, and improved alert and evacuation systems.
"And slashing emissions so that an overheating climate and ocean don’t drive more powerful and wetter storms."
Other methods include a seafloor scanner, vibration barriers and snow drift monitoring.
What could possibly go wrong?...........................
I foresee droughts in the Great Plains and Midwest wheat and corn belts that will cause mass starvation...................
Blowing Bubbles?
Finally…..
Kamala Harris and the Democrats have the answer.
Sex with an old clown.
“...developing a system that uses bubbles to cool the surface temperature of the sea by drawing up cold water from the oceans’ depths.”
So we’re going to jack around with the ocean to control the atmosphere.
To quote BOC from “Godzilla”
“History shows again and again
How nature points out the folly of men.”
I am sure that the effect on marine life has been carefully considered. Nutrients brought to the surface, algae etc
When I blow bubbles in the bathtub it smells funny, do these bubbles smell funny.
Why would the pipes be deposed? Are the pipes being sued?
You're going to need all of the container ships currently sitting off the coast of Los Angeles, each pulling miles long pipes, and each with air compressors capable of forcing air into those miles long pipes in unprecedented volumes and pressures, in order to even have a chance of churning up enough water to make a difference to a forming hurricane that covers hundreds of square miles of ocean.
A whacky idea, to say the least.
Exactly. Here in the southeast hurricanes have broken many dry spells and saved the bean and cotton harvest.
“A whacky idea, to say the least.”
Its those whacky ideas that get the government funding...
What’s the difference? According to the lead in propaganda paragraphs the entire Earth is going to become uninhabitable anyway.
fools
It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.
Your neighbors claim that your bubbles could easily stop hurricanes.
Great idea. Now to lay perforated pipes over millions of square miles of the South Atlantic, and turn the oceans into fizzy water. Yeah, that’ll work, for sure.
I’m confident that running all that oxygen through deep sea waters where the ecosystem is used to low O2 content won’t be harmed at all. In fact I can’t wait to see what else comes to the surface along with the cold water and oxy bubbles.
God created hurricanes for a reason...........................
I heard the CDC proposed dropping a nuclear bomb in the middle of hurricanes. We know it’s a good idea because they seem to be “on top” of everything else with this attitude of, “nothing can go wrong.”
I'm all for it, my nickname is Bubbles.........
Has to be one of the dumbest articles I’ve ever read.
You can only depose after the pipes have completed some interrogatories.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.