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Subject: C5g) Why don't we try to destroy tropical cyclones by
altering their heat balance using high altitude particles ?
Contributed by Neal Dorst
The idea here is to spread a layer of sunlight absorbing or reflecting
particles (such as micro-encapsulated soot, carbon black, or tiny
reflectors) at high altitude around a hurricane. This would prevent solar
radiation from reaching the surface and cooling it, while at the same time
increase the temperature of the upper atmosphere. Being vertically oriented,
tropical cyclones are driven by energy differences between the lower and upper
layer of the troposphere. Reducing this difference should reduce the forces
behind hurricane winds.
It would take a tremendous amount of whichever substance you choose to
alter the energy balance over a wide swath of the ocean in order to have
an impact on a hurricane. One would hope that this substance would eventually
disperse or disintegrate and not have a terrible impact on the earth's
ecology. Knowing where to place it would also be tricky. You
don't want to heat up the wrong area of the atmosphere or you could put
more energy into the cyclone. These proposals would require a great deal
of precisely-timed, coordinated activity to spread the layer, while running the
risk of doing more harm than good. Many computer simulations should be
run before any field test were tried.
References
Gray, W.M., W.M. Frank, M.L. Corrin, C.A. Stokes, 1976: Weather Modificiation
by Carbon Dust Absorption of Solar Energy, J. of Appl. Meteor.,
15 4, pp. 355-386.
Last modified 11/6/2007
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