# Blowing up hurricanes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 28, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blowing-up-hurricanes/261993 "2004-08-28T21:22:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blowing-up-hurricanes/261993/1 "2004-08-28T21:22:25Z")
Tell me what’s wrong with the idea of flying a huge load of bombs into a hurricane and dropping them to disrupt the wind patterns and “defuse” the storm. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2004, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blowing-up-hurricanes/261993/2 "2004-08-28T21:38:40Z")
I think it’s a matter of scale. Even using a Hiroshima-sized bomb. Hurricane Kinetic Energy = 1.5x10[sup]12[/sup] Watts 15,000,000,000,000 Watts Or [as this site says…](http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/D7.html) Half the total worldwide electrical generating capability. We’re simply not yet at a level to effect that sort of energy yet. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blowing-up-hurricanes/261993/3 "2004-08-28T21:54:46Z")
That same FAQ contains the OP’s question, which confirms JC’s explanation: [Why don’t we try to destroy tropical cyclones by nuking them?](http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/C5c.html) ---
**Author:** ![Vlad\_Igor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Vlad\_Igor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vlad_Igor)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2004, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blowing-up-hurricanes/261993/4 "2004-08-28T22:09:24Z")
I recall hearing something a few years ago where someone was going to try to seed the eye wall of a hurricane with silver iodide in an attempt to dilate it and weaken the circulation. I never heard how it turned out. Vlad/Igor ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2004, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blowing-up-hurricanes/261993/5 "2004-08-28T22:23:30Z")
Maybe hurricanes could be an energy alternative? Hmmm… ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2004, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blowing-up-hurricanes/261993/6 "2004-08-28T23:11:16Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > That same FAQ contains the OP’s question, which confirms JC’s explanation: > > [Why don’t we try to destroy tropical cyclones by nuking them?](http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/C5c.html) Y’know how in bad SF we always have the alien overlord sneer at _“you pitiful humans and your puny weapons?”_ Well, in this case the description fits us to a tee. As for the “seeding” experiments, IIRC they went nowhere, again a problem of scale. ---
**Author:** ![wonder9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c57346/32.png) [@wonder9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonder9)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2004, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blowing-up-hurricanes/261993/7 "2004-08-28T23:27:48Z")
I don’t have any real science background, but my understanding is that hurricanes are actually fairly benefical. They act as a heat redistribution engine, preventing a build up of heat in one area of the oceans. I have no cite for this, but the fact that the earth is a complex system with a rich array of checks and balances to keep things on a fairly even keel should cause anyone contemplating inteferring with a weather phenomana we scarcely understand pause. Just my opinion of course. But our experience with wildfires in the USA should also provide some food for thought about the unintended consequences of tinkering with a process just because we can. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blowing-up-hurricanes/261993/8 "2004-08-30T03:48:58Z")
Besides the fact that the power contained in hurricanes make them too big to destroy, many area depend on tropical systems to bring them rainfall. Just one of many cites [Link](http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/news/2000/Jun/hurrican.htm) ---
**Author:** ![nonpolar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@nonpolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonpolar)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blowing-up-hurricanes/261993/9 "2004-08-30T04:00:30Z")
We can build big wall around Florida ,and then even Cuabans won’t be able set foot on USA soil.