Anthony's Science Blog

Geoengineering, ctd.

August 30, 2011 – 8:23 pm

From an article in The Atlantic on using technological solutions to reduce hurricane intensity:

…researchers would dump their particles out of large cargo planes, some of which can carry 125 tons or more. In Hoffman and Alamaro’s scenario, the planes would disgorge the soot above the hurricane’s eye and the storm would disperse it outward. In the other group’s plan, planes would disperse the salt particles at the storm’s outer edges, to be hoovered up by the storm’s churn and delivered to its heart. In both cases, the immediate impact on the hurricane’s intensity would probably be negligible, but the effect would compound over time as the storm drifted west. All told, it might take a dozen or so flights a day to set in motion the degradation of a big storm.

More evidence that these types of schemes could be on their way sometime in our lifetimes.