Can Bill Gates stop hurricanes? Scientists doubt it

[steven johnson]

Bill Gates and Ken Caldeira of Intellectual Ventures filed five patent applications for a technique to cool the ocean's surface and decrease the intensity of hurricaines. There is a lot of scepticism about the practicality and the unexpected consequences -- could it divert the storm in another direction?

The theory is sound but the devil is in the implementation details.

(CNN)August 28, 2009

Gates and a dozen other scientists have raised eyebrows by submitting patent applications for a technology to reduce the danger of approaching hurricanes by cooling ocean temperatures.

According to the patents, many tub-like barges would be placed directly in the path of an oncoming storm. Each barge would have two conduits, each 500 feet long.

One conduit would push the warm water from the ocean's surface down. The other would bring up cold water where it lies deep undersea.

"The problem is the storms come up so rapidly," said Gray, a professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University. "You only get two to three days warning. It's very difficult to bring up enough cold water in two to three days to have much effect."

Can Bill Gates stop hurricanes? Scientists doubt it

[Deja Q]

1. Just pathetic patent pandering. Gates just wants to make it rich when somebody else does

the work necessary to make "his" copyright a reality.

These days, the patent system is a swindle.

[Dogmudgeon]

2. Why not used a Scientifically Tested system -- Orgone Cloud Busters!

I'm sure that they would work every bit as well.

--d!

[davidwparker]

3. No, because Gates can't steal from Apple on this one. And Apple,

to my knowledge, is not secretly developing this prototype.

[comtec]

6. and apple had no one to steal it from in the first place

far as I know Xerox hasn't been developing weather control for the sake of laughs.....
but then again they kind of stumbled onto the whole..."net work thing" by accident
as well as that failed experiment the "G. U. I."
back to making dependable copiers :)

[WVRICK13]

4. I Hope Not

Every time humans interfere with nature something bad happens. I can only imagine what the equal but opposite effects of stopping something as powerful as a hurricane would be. What if the ocean needs hurricanes to release heat into the air? Or a million other things that maintain our fragile balance on planet Earth.

[Thor_MN]

5. Yeah, shove some surface water down on to the methane hydrates

Barge heats deep water, causing methane hydrates to vaporize, causing barge to sink in methane fizzy water, if it doesn't ignite the methane cloud.

[comtec]

7. Well I suppose a pseudo-nuclear-like blast WOULD probably drive off the storm clouds

and disrupt the weather pattern LOL

[NickB79]

9. And widespread releases of methane hydrates turbocharges climate change

Which in turn makes the oceans even warmer, leading to even more and stronger hurricanes :crazy:

[Ter]

8. I used to work with a "Ron Paul" conspiracy type guy

He used to talk about the Bilderberg Group being the funds of the "Shadow Government", which wants to control weather and take over the world. I used to think he was a nut. However, since Bill Gates is part of the Bilderberg Group and is openly talking about this, now I'm not so sure. This frightens me a little.