Is Bill Gate’s really trying to prevent hurricanes?
A few stories out about a patent linked to Bill Gates (of Microsoft), while others think it bunk.
July 16th, 2009 at 11:25pm EDT
USA Today came out with this story on July 15th, 2009 about a number of patents being issued to Bill Gates and associate researchers on a method to pull up cooler deep sea water to displace warm water that is used as fuel by hurricanes in order to strengthen.
“The bottom line here is that if enough pumps are deployed, it is reasonable to expect some diminution of hurricane power,” says hurricane expert Kerry Emanuel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He adds, “This would have to be done on a massive scale, but is still probably within the realm of feasibility.” Kerry is not associated with the patent process.
Patents are issued regardless of whether they work or not, are realistic or not. They are simply there to protect an individual’s or company’s idea for a product or other items. My personal feeling on this is that while it was intended to protect an idea and may lead to something that may actually have some impact, the overall volume of water, temperature difference needed and the amount of energy a hurricane or even a small tropical storm possess is more than any current or likely future technology can muster….at least not without severe affects elsewhere (like damaging and killing sea life).
I’m not the only on doubting this. Jack Williams (weatherjackwilliams.com) posted this article in response to the USA Today and ABC coverage. Very interesting topic, and especially so being that the US is moving deeper and deeper into the 2009 hurricane season.
Hurricane-calming technology? Bill Gates has a plan
Hurricane Stories Full of Holes
A note about tomorrow’s possible severe weather in the Mid-Atlantic/Southeast coast
Along with SPC’s 2 day Convective Outlook, a few local chasers and weather enthusiasts are looking at the potential for some severe weather tomorrow predominately in southern Virginia and North Carolina. SPC is indicating that the main threat is for line segments and clusters, but doesn’t yet mention any isolated activity nor do they mention tornadoes at all. Some chasers are posting that they do like the lower level rotation potential, but this is somewhat based on the models (although one forecaster is one I trust going beyond the computer models). I myself will not be able to chase tomorrow regardless of the set-up, so I’ll just have to hope for some local activity and a break in my schedule tomorrow afternoon.