The 14th Colony
September 1st, 2004, 07:00 PM
In an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, there was a conversation about some people being killed by a tornado in Kansas (or else another state), and Jean-Luc questioned why the storm wasn't stopped or prevented by the weather net. No explanation was given about what the "weather net" was, but a sci-fi minded fan could surmise that it was some type of system that prevented the atmospheric conditions that enabled tornados to form. Maybe it was explained in a ST technical book or some other ST novel, but this thread is not to discuss that or any episode of ST. Instead, it is to discuss how such a system, from either a sci-fi/fantasy concept to a potential reality-based future technology, could concievably prevent hurricanes and tornados from forming, or perhaps dissipate such a system once it did form.
With hurricanes, especially the ones that form off the coast of Africa and head NW toward the Carribean or Gulf of Mexico, there is ample time to track and prep for its arrival. But what if future generations could zero in on the approaching storm and cause it to die down and dissipate completely or near completely? I've thought that detonating a nuclear bomb in the eye of a hurricane, despite the tremendous heat which would otherwise fuel a 'cane, from the powerful outward blast which would drive the surrounding atmosphere away from the eye, could possibly kill a 'cane dead in its tracks. Of course they can't detonate a nuclear bomb in the middle of the Atlantic every time there's a storm approaching. It would be crazy. We'd have Godzillas rising up from the Atlantic every year after hurricane season, not to mention that any remaining storm clouds would carry radiation with them even greater distances. So nuking hurricanes would be a no-go.
However, what other ways might there be someday, if the future is as bright as our sci-fi films and TV shows make it out to be, for future technology to effectively and safely stop hurricanes in their path by decreasing their power or preventing them from developing, as well as preventing tornadoes from forming?
With hurricanes, especially the ones that form off the coast of Africa and head NW toward the Carribean or Gulf of Mexico, there is ample time to track and prep for its arrival. But what if future generations could zero in on the approaching storm and cause it to die down and dissipate completely or near completely? I've thought that detonating a nuclear bomb in the eye of a hurricane, despite the tremendous heat which would otherwise fuel a 'cane, from the powerful outward blast which would drive the surrounding atmosphere away from the eye, could possibly kill a 'cane dead in its tracks. Of course they can't detonate a nuclear bomb in the middle of the Atlantic every time there's a storm approaching. It would be crazy. We'd have Godzillas rising up from the Atlantic every year after hurricane season, not to mention that any remaining storm clouds would carry radiation with them even greater distances. So nuking hurricanes would be a no-go.
However, what other ways might there be someday, if the future is as bright as our sci-fi films and TV shows make it out to be, for future technology to effectively and safely stop hurricanes in their path by decreasing their power or preventing them from developing, as well as preventing tornadoes from forming?