A way to stop hurricanes?

I was thinking about stuff last night because I was really bored. I got to thinking about a previous thread that asked if hurricanes would scatter radioactive materials given off by a nuke set off during a hurricane. Then we agreed that the thermal pulse would vaporize the water and the hurricane would be dead. Well I was wondering if we could set off a thermal bomb that was all about extreme heat in the eye of a hurricane. Because hurricanes feed off of moisture, so wouldnt that mean that if the hurricane lost the water in the eye it would be killed or at least weaken?

Originally posted by truttseeker
I was wondering if we could set off a thermal bomb that was all about extreme heat in the eye of a hurricane. Because hurricanes feed off of moisture, so wouldnt that mean that if the hurricane lost the water in the eye it would be killed or at least weaken?

Very interesting idea. Right now today, scientist are experimenting with some kind of gel that sucks up 3000 times its mass, but scientist say that the amount that would have to be dropped in one hurricane would cost too much. Furthermore, hurricanes, although deadly, are beneficial to the Earth's atmosphere, as are earthquakes, volcanoes etc, because it helps the earth relieve pressure that could otherwise destroy the planet entirely in one go.

[edit on 3-9-2005 by HALO77]

Modern humans have become so detached from the processes of nature that their structures and systems are unable to function within its parameters. It was hubris to ever try to 'tame' the Mississippi, it was hubris to ever build a city below sea level, and it is hubris to interfere with the natural cleansing and renewal process of the hurricane. The true tragedy of New Orleans is the taking of Native land, the imposition of an unsustainable technical and social system, the blindness of the inhabitants to the impending mortal danger and the impotence of the almighty Federal government to prevent or address it. The disaster has brought the true face of modern America out into the open: a population with a herd-like victim mentallity, a government unable to tame 'savage nature', and military responses to issues of social justice.

wouldnt setting off a nuke in the eye of a hurricane just create a huge-assed wave that would prolly be more destructive than the hurricane itself?

Not to mention the "all important political repercussions of setting off a nuclear bomb" *roll eyes* and it would also render that area of ocean impassable for who knows how many centuries

I know what would happen if a nuke went off in a hurricane. It would be disaterous, it was even dicussed in another thread. But, I never said it had to be a nuclear weapon. Im just talking about a bomb with enough heat to superheat the core of the hurricane and evaporate the water.

Interesting idea, to evaporate the water. The only problem is that this wouldn't change the regional pressure. The reason they form in the first place is that there becomes a low pressure zone off the coast of Africa and the evaporating water cools to form clouds. The hot water is what is responsible for a positive feedback mechanism that generates stronger winds. If the water were cold, it would subdue the hurricaine. Since there really isn't any way to cool that much water all at once, the idea of evaporating the water that is swirling in the heat flows (rising heat by right hand rule creates a counter clockwise twist) seems plausible to reduce the current power, but the general low pressure zone would not be affected.

However, the amount of power required to affect what you are imagining is just huge. Way too expensive, and where would you propose to set this thing off? In the Gulf? Way too dangerous, there are lots of fisherman and oil platforms in that area.

The hurricaine itself is just a low pressure zone ("tropical depression") until it gets near the Bermudas.

Setting of a bomb in the eye of a huracane? Are you mad?

Looks and Bangladesh, they have floods much worse every year, yet all they have to do is put a sack on their back and jump in a canoe boat with their family, no one is stilling TVs no one robbing anyone, i mean think about it

reply to post by truttseeker


I was thinking something different, I realize once hurricanes reach land, they lose their power, so why dont we build a plataform, in the middle of the ocean the size of 4 states, so when it pass through that way it will lose its power and it will be a tropical storm when it gets to puerto rico... like those superman rocks that build continents but lets build it in the middle of the atlantic where these hurricanes get their strenght...

We don't have any technology that can match the power of a hurricane. Not even nukes. Nature is way more powerful than our technology.

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.

www.aoml.noaa.gov...