A series of powerful hurricanes have affected millions of people in the United States in recent weeks.
Some people are wondering if scientists could control extreme weather events. However, experts say hurricanes are far too powerful for humans to control.
Climate change is leading to increasingly powerful storms. This has led to greater attention on the possibilities of geoengineering.
Geoengineering involves futuristic ideas for reversing or lessening climate change. But many scientists have serious concerns about unwanted results.
Hurricanes are an example of the uncontrollable, disordered power of Earth’s weather. Experts say there is no clear evidence from research to show humans might be able to control such strong storms.
Kristen Corbosiero is a professor of atmospheric and environmental sciences at the University at Albany. Corbosiero is a weather expert, or meteorologist. She said: “If meteorologists could stop hurricanes, we would stop hurricanes. If we could control the weather, we would not want the kind of death and destruction that’s happened.”
Weather experts’ opinions on controlling hurricanes
National Hurricane Center tropical analysis chief Chris Landsea said that a fully developed hurricane releases heat energy that is the equal to a 10-megaton nuclear bomb every 20 minutes. That is more than all the energy used at a given time by human beings.
Chris Field is director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment in California. He said scientists are learning of the many ways that climate change is making hurricanes more powerful and destructive. Warmer oceans add energy and more water to the warming atmosphere. That water becomes strong rainfall.
Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbac said the amount of energy a hurricane generates is much more than humans have the power to control. But people have still made attempts to control the storms.
Historical efforts to control hurricanes
Jim Fleming is a professor at Colby College in Maine. He has studied historical efforts to control the weather. He said humans do not even come close to having the practical technology to successfully control the weather.
Fleming described one attempt in 1947. The General Electric company partnered with the U.S. military to drop dry ice from Air Force planes into the path of a hurricane to try to weaken it. It did not work.
Some attempts or ideas could even make the storms worse or cause greater harm. One especially dangerous idea was to use a nuclear bomb, which would cause radiation and not be strong enough to change the storm, Kristen Corbosiero said.
Bringing cooling icebergs or adding chemicals to cause rain also are ideas that do not work, scientists say.
Engineering the climate
Modern geoengineers would operate differently. Today’s geoengineers are thinking about how to reverse the damage humans have already caused.
Scientists in the field say one of the most promising ideas they see based on computer models is solar geoengineering. The method would involve lifting small particles into the upper atmosphere to return some of the sunlight back into space, cooling the planet a little. Still, supporters of the idea know that it comes with risks.
Two years ago, the American Geophysical Union (AGU) announced it was forming an ethics agreement for climate intervention. The AGU is the largest society of scientists who study climate issues.
I’m Jill Robbins.
Melina Walling and Seth Borenstein reported this story for the Associated Press. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English.
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Words in This Story
geoengineering – n. large-scale manipulation of a specific process central to controlling Earth’s climate for the purpose of obtaining a specific benefit
reverse – v. to change (something) to an opposite state or condition
analysis – n. a careful study of something to learn about its parts, what they do, and how they are related to each othe
iceberg – n. a very large piece of ice floating in the ocean
solar – n. of or relating to the sun
ethics – n. n area of study that deals with ideas about what is good and bad behavior