Ross: Trump’s idea to nuke a hurricane is nothing new
Aug 29, 2019, 8:39 AM | Updated: 12:42 pm
(NOAA)
President Trump has reassured everyone that despite the story that ran on Axios, he would never try nuking a hurricane to snuff it out.
Ross: Another climate change report says we’re doomed
But let’s remember, this is not a new idea.
There’s this concept called “geo-engineering,” the idea that if we can’t or won’t control CO2, we can just use modern technology to control the consequences of climate change.
Under this geo-engineering theory, as the hurricanes, floods, and fires get worse, politicians will start running on a climate repair platform.
That, for example, might involve sending 60,000 flights each year into the upper atmosphere to spread sunlight-reflecting sulphate particles. Or there’s an idea to dump iron into the oceans to create enormous algae blooms to absorb CO2.
The fundamental problem with these concepts is that they are very hard to control. As in, we might wake up one day to find that the sun has suddenly disappeared.
In this era of contagious nationalism where countries are determined to go it alone, what if the geo-engineering program of “country A” kills the crops of “country B”? If ever there was an act of war, that would be it.
Could PNW kids suing over climate change force lawmakers to act?
In that kind of scenario, I could see someone deciding to nuke a hurricane, except as revenge.
Although it would certainly cut down on looting.