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Could 'Re-Engineering' Earth Help Ease the Hurricane Threat? (nbcnews.com)

Posted by msmash on from the mission-saving-the-planet dept.

As hurricanes continue to increase in frequency and intensity, a $10-billion-a-year project proposes injecting sulfate into the atmosphere to cool down the Earth and reduce the number of hurricanes by 50% for a staggering 50 years. From a report: In an attempt to combat climate change, a multinational team of scientists are working on a plan to literally re-engineer the Earth in order to cool it down and reduce the impact of storm systems. For example, a team led by John Moore, who is the head of China's geoengineering research program, is studying how shading sulfate aerosols that are dispersed into the stratosphere could help cool the planet and reduce the number of hurricane occurrences. In an interview with Popular Mechanics, outlining how the plan works, Moore asserts, "We're basically mimicking a volcano and saying we're going to put 5 billion tons of sulfates a year into the atmosphere 20 kilometers high, and we'll do that for 50 years." In their current research model, in which the scientists tested a senario where the sulfate injection is doubled over time, the team found that incidences of Katrina-level hurricanes could be maintained (they would be kept at the same rate that we currently see) and that storm surges, which is the rise in seawater level that is caused solely by a storm, could be mitigated by half. The researchers noted that the volcanic eruption in 1912 of Katmai in Alaska "loaded the Northern Hemisphere with aerosol [sulfates], and [was] followed by the least active hurricane season on record." Moore explains that warmer waters can spark and fuel hurricanes, and cooling them with shading sulfates reduces the size and intensity of these hurricanes.

6 of 262 comments (clear)

  1. Not this again! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I ain't going to be riding no train around the world forever in the snow. Fuck that!

  2. LMFAO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What could possibly go wrong?!

    1. Re:LMFAO by LunaticTippy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And don't continue to breed like fucking rabbits.

      Huh. Are rabbits known for stable, gradually declining populations? Cuz that's what all developed countries do. There is a demographic implosion underway in many countries, Japan is leading the way with an economy that has been in a deflationary spiral for over a decade. Even Mexico is just over replacement rate with fertility rate at 2.21 (down from 7 a generation ago)

      Most developed countries have declining populations projected for the indefinite future. The US is way below replacement rate, only growth is from immigration. Your facts are dated and out of touch with reality.

      --
      Man, you really need that seminar!
  3. First sentence is absurd by Train0987 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "As hurricanes continue to increase in frequency and intensity"

    Except they are not increasing in frequency or intensity. Slashdot should be ashamed of what it's become, click-bait for cultists.

    1. Re:First sentence is absurd by Solandri · · Score: 5, Informative

      Only the North Atlantic has seen a slight uptick in hurricanes the last 15 years. The eastern North Pacific has been pretty flat. Tropical cyclones in the Indian Ocean have been down. As have cyclones in the South Pacific (off Australia). And cyclones in the western North Pacific have been mostly flat with a recent downward trend.

      So if you cherry-pick your data from just the one storm basin which fits your preconceived expectations and ignore all the others, yes hurricanes have been increasing in frequency and intensity.

  4. Understand the problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Until you understand the whole problem, don't fuck around with anything. The atmosphere is a complex and chaotic system, and we can't even predict the weather accurately for more than a few days (or even on the day). How about we don't start pumping more shit into the atmosphere until we have a fucking clue, huh?

    In fact, if you read the article you discover it has a lovely side-effect: the process completely destroys the ozone layer. Yay. It also means all those chemtrail nutcases are going to be very smug. Double yay.