Quote:
Originally Posted by alwann
To those more learned than I:
Why don't we have technology capable of mitigating storms like Ian?
Sending people to the moon and back, and maybe Mars one day. This we can do. Smashing a device into an asteroid to change its direction, this we can do. Technology to deal with tropical storms before they become a danger? Doesn't seem like that's in the cards. Hey, there has to be a business opportunity in this. Memo to Elon Musk: Can't you invent a big old fan of some kind to change the paths of killer storms? I'd bet you'd make a bundle.  |
Probably not possible in the near future. According to NASA, an average hurricane releases the energy equivalent of 10,000 nuclear bombs. We would have to ask Scotty to give us a matter-antimatter reactor to match that.
So, here's an even better idea---harness the energy. According to the Smithsonian, an average hurricane generates 600 terawatts of energy, the entire worlds power output is about 5.2 terawatts. Grab 1% of a cat 3 storm and the entire world can have free electric power