Safe from the Storm: Why Do We Have Hurricanes and Can They Be Stopped?
Wouldn’t it be great if hurricanes could be stopped or steered away from land?
Some have suggested pumping cold water from deep in the ocean to cool the surface temperature of the water, dragging icebergs from the Arctic, using oil slicks to prevent evaporation and even using nuclear power against them.
None of these ideas would work because they fail to take into account the size and power of a hurricane. Any action would be too expensive and there could be unforeseen ecological impacts.
Hurricanes actually serve a purpose as the Earth tries to balance itself out from its energy imbalance.
Hurricanes are a vessel to transport warm, moist air from the equator north to the polar regions. Rarely can they do this because of ridges, which then steer them toward land masses. That’s why they become a problem for us.
This happens all around the world, not just in the Atlantic, but the Pacific and Indian Oceans as well.
We have to learn to co-exist with hurricanes by improving forecasting, implementing stronger building codes and having better preparations.
