Stupid Question. Can we blow up hurricanes?

[simpleplan]

A friend and I were talking today and he asked "Can't we just send a missle into the center of the hurricane and blast it?" At first I thought it sounded stupid but then I thought about it.....why not?

[pitohui]

1. they're larger than many thermonuclear weapons

we don't have anything big enough

[A HERETIC I AM]

2. I've often thought about that too.....what we need is an anti-thermo....

nuclear bomb...a cold bomb, cause they do, after all, feed on heat.

I have thought that perhaps several dozen "Daisy Cutters" (The largest of the non-nuclear bombs in the US Arsenal) dropped in a specific pattern simultaneously or in a prescribed delay could do it.

But you are talking about a bombing run of several dozen planes.

Then again, i am probably talking out of my ass as these hurricanes are as big as the Gulf of Mexico anyway!

[LisaL]

3. HTF are you going to blast the wind?

[democracyindanger]

4. Some country was recently talking about

lowering ocean temperatures in areas where hurricanes are born by dropping nitrogen bombs or something, but it would take thousands of planes and millions of bombs. I think it was Russia. They're wacky like that.

[Redstone]

5. No. A hurricane is to an atomic bomb as a Mack truck is to

a roach on the road.

Now, I bet THAT's a simile that you've never heard before! But it's true.

Redstone

[havocmom]

10. LOL, thanks for the best "Science for the Masses" lesson of the week!

And after that much needed giggle, I will bid all a good evening.

Thanks, Redstone, you know not how much you did to improve my week!

[SocratesInSpirit]

6. there was an article today on msn.com

that asked the same question...unfortunately after decades of study it was concluded impossible - like trying to move a car with a pea shooter.


http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9440978/

[obxhead]

7. you want the Government to screw with mother nature?

especially this government? No much as I hate to say it, let that hurricane clobber us.

[doc03]

8. You nuke a hurricane and all that radioactive rain has got

to come down somewhere!!!!! I sure as hell don't want it in my yard.

[jobycom]

9. The legend is they tried to kill Hurricane Betsy by seeding it

And it just made it meaner.

You start messing with energy and who knows what happens.

[jobycom]

11. But it does bring up one of my favorite hurricane tampering theories

The worst part of a hurricane is the storm surge. That's what destroys the most. That's what wiped out the MS Coast in Camille, and again in Katrina, and that's what broke the levees in New Orleans.

Barrier islands weaken the storm surge somewhat, as do wetlands. The surge is created by the winds blowing the water before them.

Could we construct artificial wave breaks off the coast? Some sort of concrete railing, using the type of technology they use on super bridges, that could sheer some of the height from the waves as they get closer to shore?

[doc03]

12. How about a million fans blowing in the opposite direction.

[fleabert]

18. I actually thought of this too. In all seriousness.

It would be interesting to see what would happen, if anything, if every fan in the country were turned on at the same time in exactly the same direction... probably blow the electrical supply for most of us, but it seems like it would have some type of impact! :shrug:

[hyphenate]

13. An additional note

is not only the fury of a hurricane compared with an A bomb, but the width of a hurricane. In some cases, you're talking hundreds of miles around! And there is no "center" to try to take out, because of its whirlwind shape. Somewhere down the line, perhaps 50-100 years in the future, something might be able to be done, but our technology just can't deal with it.

[ForrestGump]

14. I've heard you can THROW them up

if you drink too many...

[KyndCulture]

16. I'll vouch...

Harry's Oyster Bar... ouch... my stomach still hurts.

[DS1]

15. Is your friend an idiot?

No, you can't 'blow up' a hurricane, no a neutron bomb won't do any good either.

[flowomo]

17. There was an AP article on this just yesterday:

Sep 23, 11:11 AM (ET)
By JOSEPH B. VERRENGIA



DENVER (AP) - It sounds like a great idea: Let's just blast hurricanes like Rita and Katrina out of the sky before they hurt more people. Or, at least weaken the storms and steer them away from cities.

Atmospheric scientists say it's wishful thinking that we could destroy or even influence something as huge and powerful as a hurricane. They abandoned such a quest years ago after more than two decades of inconclusive government-sponsored research.

Private companies have conducted tests on a much smaller scale, but have made little progress despite initially claiming to erase storm clouds from the atmosphere.

"It would be like trying to move a car with a pea shooter," said hydrometeorologist Matthew Kelsch of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. "The amount of energy involved in a hurricane is far greater that anything we're going to impart to it."

MORE:
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20050923/D8CQ1MJO0.html