Artificially cooling water to decrease hurricanes ineffective, finds study

According to a recent study, the benefits would be insignificant even if we had the infinite ability to artificially cool the oceans to the point where they would become weaker hurricanes. The Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science at the University of Miami (UM) conducted the study, which demonstrated that using intervention technology to weaken a hurricane before it reaches landfall is a very ineffective way to lessen the effects of disasters.

According to James Hlywiak, the study's primary author and alumnus of the UM Rosenstiel School, "the main finding from our study is that huge amounts of artificially cooled water would be needed for only a slight drop in storm intensity before impact." Additionally, a marginally reduced intensity doesn't necessarily suggest that the risk of inland damage and safety issues will also be reduced. While any amount of weakening before landfall is a good thing, for these reasons it makes more sense to focus on adaptation strategies like strengthening infrastructure, enhancing the effectiveness of evacuation procedures, and developing the science surrounding impending storm detection and prediction.

The scientists combined air-sea interaction theories with a highly advanced computer model of the atmosphere to provide scientifically sound answers to inquiries concerning the efficacy of artificially cooling the ocean to weaken storms.

They cooled regions of the ocean up to 260,000 km2 in size, which is larger than the state of Oregon and equals 21,000 cubic kilometres of water, by up to 2 degrees Celsius in their computer models. Even with the biggest cooling area, the simulated hurricanes only shrank by 15%. More than 100 times as much energy as was utilised in the entire United States in 2019 alone was taken out of the ocean to achieve this modest reduction.

You might assume that the major conclusion of our article--that it is useless to attempt to weaken hurricanes--should be evident, according to senior author David Nolan, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School. "However, several suggestions for hurricane modification are frequently found in the media and occasionally even go as far as being filed for patents. We're pleased to have contributed to the peer-reviewed literature something that genuinely addresses this.