Posted on 07/25/2005 4:36:38 PM PDT by LibWhacker
Sailors who traditionally dumped barrels of oil into the sea to calm stormy waters may have been on to something, a new study suggests. The old practice reduces wind speeds in tropical hurricanes by damping ocean spray, according to a new mathematical “sandwich model”.
As hurricane winds kick up ocean waves, large water droplets become suspended in the air. This cloud of spray can be treated mathematically as a third fluid sandwiched between the air and sea. “Our calculations show that drops in the spray decrease turbulence and reduce friction, allowing for far greater wind speeds – sometimes eight times as much,” explains researcher Alexandre Chorin at the University of California at Berkeley, US.
He believes the findings shed light on an age-old sea ritual. “Ancient mariners poured oil on troubled waters – hence the expression – but it was never very clear what this accomplished,” says Chorin. Since oil inhibits the formation of drops, Chorin thinks the strategy would have increased the drag in the air and successfully decreased the intensity of the squalls.
Preventing hurricanes
The researchers suggest that, during a tropical storm, aeroplanes could deliver harmless surfactants to the ocean surface – reducing surface tension in water and stopping droplets from forming – perhaps preventing a hurricane developing.
But some climate physicists remain unconvinced. “I am very doubtful about this approach,” says Julian Hunt at University College London, UK. He has studied turbulence both theoretically and in the laboratory and thinks that the high wind speeds are caused by an entirely different mechanism.
In a paper submitted this month to the Journal of Fluid Dynamics, Hunt suggests that variations in the turbulence between different regions of the hurricane cause sharp jumps in wind speed.
Chorin stresses that his team has not carried out experimental tests on the application of this work with tropical storms, but feels that it could be explored in the future.
“The researchers suggest that, during a tropical storm, aeroplanes could deliver harmless surfactants to the ocean surface – reducing surface tension in water and stopping droplets from forming – perhaps preventing a hurricane developing.”
This is by far the dumbest thing I have read in a long time. If it weren’t for hurricanes, Central America would be as dry as desert.
Who is this knucklehead Zeeya Merali?
How about cod liver oil?
Well, we got a sand storm heading our way from Africa, maybe that'll help out your friends. ;-)
Hmmmm... (scratching chin)... I wonder how much that would cost? ;-)
Maybe we could get Jane Fonda's bus to veer into the ocean.
Only problem is that you have to coat the remaining beach with oil so the new sand sticks to it. :-)
The beach is a constantly changing place. The sands come and go. That's life. The state trying to stop it or fix it sounds as unrealistic as pissing on a forest fire.
"it was never clear what this accomplished"
Really bad researchers. Open a damn book and read.
Sea anchors (drogues) for life boats had a container that dripped oil (vegetable oil) that came to the surface and calmed the spray and sea around the lifeboat.
Hi,Gatún!... I wonder if it's the case that heat would still flow away from equatorial regions toward the poles -- just not in the form of hurricanes?
Do you seriously believe all the billions in property damage along the shore should just be chalked up to "easy come easy go?"
Are you a greenie perchance?
I don't have a dog in that race, but IF there might be a method of reducing the danger of a hurricane, I'd bet dollars to donuts that people along the path would be willing to try to mitigate the billions of property damage they suffer in its wake.
" The state trying to stop it or fix it sounds as unrealistic as pissing on a forest fire."
And about as smart as pissing on an electric fence.
Your friends should move to a place where mother nature is more predictable.
Well, good luck with that. :~D I mean it!
Jonah 1:1-5
1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
4 But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.
Hmmm...
Hey LibWhacker,
“I wonder if it's the case that heat would still flow away from equatorial regions toward the poles -- just not in the form of hurricanes?”
I wish I were, but unfortunately I’m not a weather expert. All I can assert is that we need to have those hurricanes coming across the Atlantic. I know when there is turmoil brewing out there because rain clouds come out of the Pacific and dump rain on Panama. While it’s bad for those islands out there in the Atlantic and for parts of the US, it’s good for us.
Dry season hits us about the middle to the end of December and rainy season begins again around the end of March. I really dislike dry season. It’s hot and everything turns brown except the trees and the jungle. (Watering the lawn has never been a practice here.) If dry season lasts too long, cattle die for lack of pasture (grass).
Regards,
Gatún
Without the "l," you would have been "a baby."
Makes a heck of a lot of difference, eh?
;-)
snicker...
Okay, how many square miles does the average tropical storm cover? And how much oil would be needed to cover that area? We're talking probably hundreds of square miles to cover with oil in an effort to keep it from becoming a hurricane. You won't need a plane, you'd likely need an entire airline to do so.
Don't snicker...could happen if a certain Massachusetts senator comes along as an adviser and kinda just takes the wheel for a bit.
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