Editing Weather modification (section)

==Storm prevention==

[[File:Project stormfury hypothesis.png|thumb|right|250px|[[Project Stormfury]]]]

[[Project Stormfury]] was an attempt to weaken [[tropical cyclone]]s by flying aircraft into storms and seeding the [[eye (cyclone)|eyewall]] with silver iodide. The project was run by the [[federal government of the United States|United States Government]] from 1962 to 1983. A similar project using soot was run in 1958, with inconclusive results.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7995-could-humans-tackle-hurricanes/|title=Could humans tackle hurricanes?|last=Mullins|first=Justin|date=September 14, 2005|work=New Scientist|access-date=May 25, 2018|archive-date=November 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181101015649/https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7995-could-humans-tackle-hurricanes/|url-status=live}}</ref> Various methods have been proposed to reduce the harmful effects of hurricanes. Moshe Alamaro of the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://alamaro.home.comcast.net/Alamaro-bio.htm |title=Moshe Alamaro's brief bio |publisher=Alamaro.home.comcast.net |access-date=2011-06-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824114446/http://alamaro.home.comcast.net/Alamaro-bio.htm |archive-date=August 24, 2007 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> proposed using barges with upward-pointing jet engines to trigger smaller storms to disrupt the progress of an incoming hurricane; critics doubt the jets would be powerful enough to make any noticeable difference.<ref name=":0" />

[[Alexandre Chorin]] of the [[University of California, Berkeley]], proposed dropping large amounts of environmentally friendly oils on the sea surface to prevent droplet formation.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7726-oil-on-troubled-waters-may-stop-hurricanes/|title=Oil on troubled waters may stop hurricanes|last=Merali|first=Zeeya|date=July 25, 2005|work=New Scientist|access-date=May 25, 2018|archive-date=May 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180526041948/https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7726-oil-on-troubled-waters-may-stop-hurricanes/|url-status=live}}</ref> Experiments by Kerry Emanuel<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wind.mit.edu/~emanuel/home.html |title=Kerry Emanuel's Homepage |publisher=Wind.mit.edu |date=May 15, 2002 |access-date=2011-06-04 |archive-date=July 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709142809/http://wind.mit.edu/~emanuel/home.html |url-status=live }}</ref> of MIT in 2002 suggested that hurricane-force winds would disrupt the oil slick, making it ineffective.<ref name=":0" /> Other scientists disputed the factual basis of the theoretical mechanism assumed by this approach.<ref name=":1" />

The Florida company Dyn-O-Mat and its CEO, Peter Cordani, proposed the use of a patented product it developed, called Dyn-O-Gel, to reduce the strength of hurricanes. The substance is a [[polymer]] in powder form (a [[polyacrylic acid]] derivative) which reportedly has the ability to absorb 1,500 times its own weight in water. The theory is that the polymer is dropped into clouds to remove their moisture and force the storm to use more energy to move the heavier water drops, thus helping to dissipate the storm. When the gel reaches the ocean surface, it is reportedly dissolved. Peter Cordani teamed up with Mark Daniels and Victor Miller, the owners of a government contracting aviation firm [[AeroGroup]] which operated ex-military aircraft commercially. Using a high altitude B-57 Bomber, [[AeroGroup]] tested the substance dropping 9,000 pounds from the [[Martin B-57 Canberra|B-57]] aircraft's large bomb bay and dispersing it into a large thunderstorm cell just off the east coast of Florida. The tests were documented on film and made international news showing the storms were successfully removed on monitored Doppler radar. In 2003, the program was shut down because of political pressure through [[NOAA]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kahn|first=Jennifer|date=September 1, 2002|title=Rain, Rain, Go Away|work=Discover Magazine|url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/technology/rain-rain-go-away|access-date=May 25, 2018|archive-date=August 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811005717/https://www.discovermagazine.com/technology/rain-rain-go-away|url-status=live}}</ref> Numerical simulations performed by [[NOAA]] showed however that it would not be a practical solution for large systems like a tropical cyclone.<ref>[http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/C5d.html Subject: C5d) Why don't we try to destroy tropical cyclones by adding a water absorbing substance ?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140316185522/http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/C5d.html |date=March 16, 2014 }}, NOAA HRD FAQ</ref>

[[File:International congress on hail shooting.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Hail cannon]]s at an international congress on hail shooting held in 1901]]

[[Hail cannon]]s have been used by some farmers since the 19th century in an attempt to ward off [[hail]], but there is no reliable scientific evidence to confirm their effectiveness. Another new anti-hurricane technology<ref>{{Cite web |title=WO/2006/085830) A METHOD OF AND A DEVICE FOR THE REDUCTION OF TROPICAL CYCLONES DESTRUCTIVE FORCE |url=https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2006085830 |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=patentscope.wipo.int}}</ref> is a method for the reduction of tropical cyclones' destructive force – pumping sea water into and diffusing it in the wind at the bottom of such tropical cyclones in its eye wall.