HURRICANES - Scientists say monsters could hit US

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Scientists: Monster hurricanes could hit U.S.

MIAMI, Florida (CNN)-- Weather researchers think the evidence is now clear: A major shift in the climate has taken place that has brought about an increase in major hurricanes. The period of heightened activity could last for decades, and unleash a catastrophic storm on the United States, according to meteorologists.

Since the climate shift began six years ago, when the Atlantic Ocean began looking like a hurricane freeway, the number of hurricanes that have formed in the Atlantic basin has doubled, said scientists at the U.S. Hurricane Research Division.

The number of major hurricanes, which produce winds in excess of 110 miles an hour, has also increased during the period by 250 percent, they said. The increased activity will continue for the next ten to 40 years, which could mean trouble for the United States.

"Most seasons we are going to get a hurricane hit the U.S. and probably more than half the time we will have a major hurricane hitting the U.S. as well," said hurricane meteorologist Chris Landsea.

Already hurricanes have increased in number and intensity. Since 1995,the Caribbean has been pounded by deadly storms like Mitch, Lenny, Marilyn, Luis and Georges. Spared the brunt of the storms, the United States has simply been lucky so far, the scientists warned.

"With the increased number, if it starts pounding the U.S., as we feel like it is going to happen, there's bound to be a major city impacted and we could be talking about a real disaster of epic proportions on our hands," said hurricane meteorologist Stanly Goldenberg.

A hurricane causing $50 billion in damage and hundreds to thousands of deaths is quite possible in the next ten or 20 years, according to Landsea.

"I think at this point the U.S. is so developed and there's so many people along the coast that just about anywhere is a major disaster ready to happen."

Scientists say the Earth's climate goes through cycles, but they don't know why. Right now, Atlantic water temperatures are slightly warmer than usual, by just half a degree Fahrenheit. And in general, there is less wind sheer.

The current conditions resemble those in 1900 when Galveston, Texas, was nearly obliterated; And the time between the 1920s and 1960s when hurricanes repeatedly slammed into Florida and the disastrous Yankee Clipper hit New York.

The period from 1965 to 1995 saw opposite conditions, cooler water and more wind sheer, neither of which fosters hurricane development.

Times have changed. From Florida to New England, everywhere along the East Coast is now at increased risk of a major hurricane, the scientists said.

-- Anonymous, July 19, 2001

Answers

"A hurricane causing $50 billion in damage and hundreds to thousands of deaths is quite possible in the.."

Heard the local talking (air)head this morning quote this, but said "hundreds OF thousands of deaths"... Mrs & I looked at each other, like... HUH?! Dum-dum newscaster strikes again.

-- Anonymous, July 20, 2001


So, who needs hurricanes when you have T.S. Allisons?

-- Anonymous, July 20, 2001

Talk about stating the obvious!

Don't they have anything better to do, like figure out how to weaken a hurricane?

-- Anonymous, July 20, 2001


Sun Sentinel

Riviera Beach firm says new product may be able to weaken hurricanes

By Neil Santaniello, Staff Writer, Posted July 20 2001

WEST PALM BEACH -- Peter Cordani, would-be storm killer, looked anxious as he stood outside Galaxy Aviation. Somewhere in the blue sky was a former military bomber he had dispatched in hopes of making a storm cloud disappear.

And if it succeeded, he hoped, the taming of hurricanes could be next.

A radio crackled with the news he awaited. Radar images confirmed a loss of moisture from a cumulus storm cloud 10 miles off the coast of Stuart, right where a B-57 Canberra plane had dropped 9,000 pounds of Cordani's absorbent powder.

"It worked, brother!" said Cordani, CEO of Dyn-O-Mat, a Riviera Beach company that makes environmental absorbent products.

"This is what we've been looking for."

Cordani has been promoting a product called Dyn-o-Gel as a potential tool to suck the moisture out of hurricanes and sap them of some of their punch. Based on a soil moistener used in gardens, it's a mixture of polymers that Cordani's company says can absorb moisture inside a cloud and turn it into a gel that drops to Earth.

The test at Palm Beach International Airport, which cost the company just less than $1 million, was the largest that Cordani and his supporters have tried.

Hugh Willoughby, hurricane research director at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Miami, said the powder probably wouldn't make a serious dent in hurricanes and would have to be delivered by "a squadron" of large military-type aircraft.

"You'd have to have 10 of them in the eye at once," he said.

And there might be a problem with plane engines flying through "a jelly drain," he added. "The engines work in rain but do they work in slime?"

Willoughby estimated it might cost $1 billion to $5 billion to develop the idea to the point where it could be tried on a hurricane.

During the 40-minute mid-afternoon flight, the B-57 worked in concert with a small training jet that carried a photographer. The airport tower helped guide the planes.

Flying at 9,500 feet, the crew picked up a rain cloud about 7,000 feet tall. The bomber dusted it with $40,000 worth of granules.

The airport tower reported seeing a cloud dissipate, "a complete blip removed from their radar," said J.D. Dutton, Dyn-O-Mat's president.

"The people in the tower visually confirmed that there was a tall buildup, and the next moment it was gone," said Kevin Sullivan, supervisor of the airport control tower.

Randy Smith, who filmed the powder drop, said he saw "the side of the cloud falling down. It looked like an avalanche."

Cordani thinks versions of the product could be used for rain-making and fire-fighting, as well as quelling hurricanes. He hopes to sell the product to the federal government.

Cordani hit on the idea in 1998 after using a gardening product that turns water into a gel so it will remain by a plant's roots for three of four days. Cordani said his cloud-busting, biodegradable granules don't contaminate the environment and dissolve when they come into contact with salt water.

In two earlier tests, Dyn-O-Mat released the granules on clouds, but used smaller crop duster planes and much less powder than in Thursday's trial. In one test a cloud was cut in half, Cordani said.

The goal this time was to knock down a building thunderstorm by using a more absorbent powder and a plane that could drop a bigger load.

Willoughby, while doubtful of the product's potential for snuffing out hurricanes, said the stuff could be useful for clearing fog and making rain. The powder could bind together rain droplets and help them fall faster, hitting the ground before they can evaporate in the air. "It might be really useful for making it rain in the drought," he said.

Information from The Associated Press was used to supplement this story.

Neil Santaniello can be reached at nsantaniello@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6625.

Copyright © 2001, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

[Kinda makes ya wonder if he has been testing it elsewhere, doesn't it?????]



-- Anonymous, July 21, 2001


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