Scoop: Trump suggested nuking hurricanes to stop them from hitting U.S.

[demmiblue]

President Trump has suggested multiple times to senior Homeland Security and national security officials that they explore using nuclear bombs to stop hurricanes from hitting the United States, according to sources who have heard the president's private remarks and been briefed on a National Security Council memorandum that recorded those comments.

Behind the scenes: During one hurricane briefing at the White House, Trump said, "I got it. I got it. Why don't we nuke them?" according to one source who was there. "They start forming off the coast of Africa, as they're moving across the Atlantic, we drop a bomb inside the eye of the hurricane and it disrupts it. Why can't we do that?" the source added, paraphrasing the president's remarks.

Asked how the briefer reacted, the source recalled he said something to the effect of, "Sir, we'll look into that."

Trump replied by asking incredulously how many hurricanes the U.S. could handle and reiterating his suggestion that the government intervene before they make landfall.

The briefer "was knocked back on his heels," the source in the room added. "You could hear a gnat fart in that meeting. People were astonished. After the meeting ended, we thought, 'What the f---? What do we do with this?'"

https://www.axios.com/trump-nuclear-bombs-hurricanes-97231f38-2394-4120-a3fa-8c9cf0e3f51c.html

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

1. Why don't we dump Trump in the eye of the hurricane instead?

[Rebl2]

7. I'm on

board with that!

[Newest Reality]

11. Are we voting on that?

I vote: Yay!

[demmiblue]

16. ditto. n/t

[malaise]

2. You mean this is not the fucking Onion?

Lock up this lunatic for the sake of humanity

[donkeypoofed]

3. I can't believe this one - surely, no one is THAT stupid

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

4. I really, REALLY wish that

the people present when he asks such an ignorant question would at least give a brief answer as to why (as in this case) it's really not a good idea to explode nuclear bombs in hurricanes. Everyone around him is an enabler.

[Boomerproud]

17. Yes! He is surrounded by enablers.

One lone voice of sanity....PLEASE!!! Of course they would be vanished, but at least it would be on the record.

[BigmanPigman]

5. Holy shit...what a maroon!

[Backseat Driver]

6. Please keep that f'g moron

Climate change denier far, far away from the football!

[Dagstead Bumwood]

8. Name every hurricane "Ivanka."

That way he won't want to nuke any of them. Hell, he'll probably insist on flying out to visit each one.

[Ilsa]

9. Is he also worried about sharknados? nt

[Lochloosa]

10. NOAA has the answer. Like one was needed.

https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/C5c.html

During each hurricane season, there always appear suggestions that one should simply use nuclear weapons to try and destroy the storms. Apart from the fact that this might not even alter the storm, this approach neglects the problem that the released radioactive fallout would fairly quickly move with the tradewinds to affect land areas and cause devastating environmental problems. Needless to say, this is not a good idea.

Now for a more rigorous scientific explanation of why this would not be an effective hurricane modification technique. The main difficulty with using explosives to modify hurricanes is the amount of energy required. A fully developed hurricane can release heat energy at a rate of 5 to 20x1013 watts and converts less than 10% of the heat into the mechanical energy of the wind. The heat release is equivalent to a 10-megaton nuclear bomb exploding every 20 minutes. According to the 1993 World Almanac, the entire human race used energy at a rate of 1013 watts in 1990, a rate less than 20% of the power of a hurricane.

If we think about mechanical energy, the energy at humanity's disposal is closer to the storm's, but the task of focusing even half of the energy on a spot in the middle of a remote ocean would still be formidable. Brute force interference with hurricanes doesn't seem promising.

[Grasswire2]

12. and then all the radiation would blow right on to the mainland US??

I wonder how many more genius ideas of his are being kept from us??????

[Tommy_Carcetti]

13. Every once in a while some idiot over social media will tout this as a "solution"

And I always think how stupid they sound not realizing all the ramifications.

And now a supposed President is one of those idiots.

[no_hypocrisy]

14. Trump's itching to drop an N-bomb. The reason why is irrelevant.

[meadowlander]

15. Likely to go as well as Caligula's war with Poseidon.

[spanone]

18. My good lord....

[safeinOhio]

19. Build more windmills.

Point then at the storm and blow them away.

Hey, this is fun.

[Blue Owl]

20. Let's send him to Chernobyl to learn about the safety of radiation

n/t

[Joe941]

21. This has got to be fake news...

No one could be that stupid.