3 ms·

I've wondered whether there might be any way to dissipate the vortex in a hurricane/tornado before it hits the land.. I accept/know that it's a very large and f

I've wondered whether there might be any way to dissipate the vortex in a hurricane/tornado before it hits the land.. I accept/know that it's a very large and fairly complicated thing but also maybe it doesn't really need bulk air and temperature control to alter it? Perhaps a very specific kind of large-enough knock (of air or temperature-change) to get it to destabilize and move out of its feedback loop?

Xymist 3y ago
People have suggested using a nuclear explosion for this. I believe "wouldn't work" and also "catastrophic mess even if it did" were the conclusions.
- danwills 3y ago
  Yeah it certainly seems that there would be lots of things that could make things worse, like nuclear bombs! I did say 'air or temperature-change' on purpose though. After a while I did wonder if there's such a thing as a cold-bomb.. imagining that a warm-bomb followed by a cold-bomb at specifically the right location could potentially be disruptive enough? Large-scale fluid dynamics seems very complicated though.. you're probably right there's a good chance many possible interventions might just 'add fuel to the fire' so-to-speak. I still think it's interesting to think about though.
rapjr9 3y ago
I've read speculation that the warm ocean temperatures are due to ships at sea stopping use of high sulfur fuel recently, so perhaps releasing some sulfur (or other reflector of IR radiation) at a fairly large scale ahead of a hurricanes path might deprive it of some energy from the Sun and reduce it's intensity? Might need to be done a month in advance though and since hurricane paths are not predictable that far ahead maybe the coverage area would need to be too big for too long to be practical. There's been talk of building ships that spray ocean water into the air to reflect heat back to space as a way to cool the planet, so perhaps that would be an approach to cooling the ocean along the most likely hurricane paths into Florida and the Gulf coast and Eastern seaboard. If it worked there it could be expanded to other places.
- danwills 3y ago
  An interesting idea for sure! Overall climate is certainly a factor but I guess I was thinking of something more localised that somehow actively (or at least strongly) disrupts the self-sustaining spinning of the vortex. Seems a bit sci-fi at this scale maybe? But humans are understanding fluid dynamics ever more.. and I wouldn't be surprised if vortices turn out to have some currently-hidden vulnerabilities.

Xymist 3y ago

People have suggested using a nuclear explosion for this. I believe "wouldn't work" and also "catastrophic mess even if it did" were the conclusions.

danwills 3y ago
Yeah it certainly seems that there would be lots of things that could make things worse, like nuclear bombs! I did say 'air or temperature-change' on purpose though. After a while I did wonder if there's such a thing as a cold-bomb.. imagining that a warm-bomb followed by a cold-bomb at specifically the right location could potentially be disruptive enough? Large-scale fluid dynamics seems very complicated though.. you're probably right there's a good chance many possible interventions might just 'add fuel to the fire' so-to-speak. I still think it's interesting to think about though.

rapjr9 3y ago

I've read speculation that the warm ocean temperatures are due to ships at sea stopping use of high sulfur fuel recently, so perhaps releasing some sulfur (or other reflector of IR radiation) at a fairly large scale ahead of a hurricanes path might deprive it of some energy from the Sun and reduce it's intensity? Might need to be done a month in advance though and since hurricane paths are not predictable that far ahead maybe the coverage area would need to be too big for too long to be practical. There's been talk of building ships that spray ocean water into the air to reflect heat back to space as a way to cool the planet, so perhaps that would be an approach to cooling the ocean along the most likely hurricane paths into Florida and the Gulf coast and Eastern seaboard. If it worked there it could be expanded to other places.

danwills 3y ago
An interesting idea for sure! Overall climate is certainly a factor but I guess I was thinking of something more localised that somehow actively (or at least strongly) disrupts the self-sustaining spinning of the vortex. Seems a bit sci-fi at this scale maybe? But humans are understanding fluid dynamics ever more.. and I wouldn't be surprised if vortices turn out to have some currently-hidden vulnerabilities.