THE PROBLEM
Climate
The main issue here is the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane (greenhouse gasses) and their impact on the earth’s average temperature. The theory and the best data indicate that carbon dioxide and methane in the air pass the visible radiation down to the earth where it is absorbed and converted to infrared radiation. The infrared radiation is absorbed by and heats the greenhouse gasses in the air, and this process changes the earth’s heat balance. Thus, the average temperature of the earth’s atmosphere is raised, and so this process is called global warming. It can cause serious problems.
This theory of global warming is controversial. One thing that makes this theory controversial is that all fossil fuels generate carbon dioxide when burned, and the vast majority of our energy is obtained by burning fossil fuels, so it is very difficult (and expensive) to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that is emitted. In fact, it may not be possible to eliminate the use of fossil fuels and thus the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Thus there is a very strong motive to disbelieve this theory.
A second problem adding to the controversy is that the earth has climate zones that move with average temperature, so the zone position changes as the average temperature increases. Thus at any earth position, the temperature may be increasing (due to global warming) or decreasing (due to zone position and storm movement). Critics ask which temperature should they believe. The answer, of course, is that it is the average of the temperatures in all climate zones that determines the average earth temperature. This average cannot be determined by a measurement in only one earth position and so it is controversial.
The third thing that makes this global warming controversial is the impact it may have on the earth’s livability. It may not be possible to just wait for the argument to settle out, and the controversy to die, and then take action. We may have to decide on an action plan now. Consider the following sequence of negative events. If the earth is warming, several things will happen.
- The earth’s glaciers and ice caps will be reduced, and eventually disappear. Then less of the visible radiation on the earth will be reflected into space, and more will be captured. That will tend to increase the earth’s average temperature. Also, some of the oceans most productive food growing zones are under the ice caps, so a loss of ice will result in a loss in the ocean’s fish production. As glaciers and snow caps in the mountains disappear, a natural storage system for summer runoff water is reduced, and so the rivers tend to flood and dry up more often.
- The melted ice will raise the mean sea level and low-lying land will be submerged. If so, some of the most important and valuable real estate in the world will be submerged, such as the east, south and gulf coasts of the US, lowland Holland, Bangladesh, etc. The rising sea level makes hurricane damage due to surge worse as well. Also, important are the well-used aquifers near the edge of the oceans that will become salty and unusable.
- The climate zones will move north in the northern hemisphere (and south in the southern hemisphere), and some old fertile agriculture zones will dry up and some new zones will be made waterlogged. Some believe that there will be a net loss of productive agricultural area. Others believe there will be a net gain. Certainly there will be a net loss in food production in many of the old fertile regions. For example, close to the equator the seasons will become less pronounced and so agriculture will become less productive. It is not possible to farm if the farmer can’t tell when the rainy season begins. Also, semi arid zones such as California and the Middle East will become dryer and so less productive.
- The oceans will warm, spread and become less salty. This will kill many reefs in the ocean and cypress forests on the edge of the ocean where fish breed, with a resulting loss of fish production. This loss will be exacerbated by the over fishing that is common in the world today.
- All extremes in weather will increase in frequency and strength. Severe hurricanes (such as Katrina and Sandy) will increase in strength, and frequency even though the total number of hurricanes will probably be reduced. Tornados will increase in frequency and strength. Droughts will increase in strength and frequency. Hot spells will increase in strength and frequency.
- The aerosols in the earth’s atmosphere (fog, dust, ice and water particles, smoke, sulfur dioxide, etc) will change. An increase will increase the amount of visible radiation reflected by the atmosphere, and this could decrease the amount of radiation absorbed by the atmosphere and thus the earth’s temperature. Most experts expect an aerosol increase, and a resultant reduction in solar absorption and temperature as a partial (but incomplete) balance to the effect of carbon dioxide.
- Critically, the permafrost layer in the arctic is expected to melt. This will cause the vegetation frozen in this layer to decompose and emit methane and carbon dioxide that will raise the earth’s temperature even more than that caused by mankind’s carbon dioxide emission.
- Also critical, the warming of the ocean in the arctic areas and the production of fresh water from ice cap melting will reduce the strength of the ocean circulation. If the warming of the ocean is sufficient, the large-scale circulation of the ocean currently operating will shut down. This has a catastrophic impact on the ability of the oceans to produce plankton because the circulation carries nutrients as well as heat around the ocean. Thus it would break the ocean’s normal food production chain, and reduce the sequestration of carbon dioxide in limestone. The impact of such a shutdown also spills over onto the land by changing weather patterns and this reducing the ability of the land to produce food.
Greenhouse gas warming is not the only process that determines earth average temperature. Two competing processes determine the earth’s temperature-those that absorb visible radiation and convert it to infrared radiation which is then absorbed in the atmosphere by greenhouse gasses as mentioned above, and those that reflect visible radiation. Thus the concentration of greenhouse gasses is key to the heat absorption process and glaciers, icecaps and aerosols are key to the reflection process. So, to warm, increase greenhouse gasses; to cool, increase glaciers, icecaps and aerosols.
Greenhouse gas concentration is determined by an equilibrium reaction between emitters and absorbers of the gasses. Primary emitters are volcanoes (carbon dioxide), grazing animals (methane), decaying vegetation (methane and carbon dioxide) and man (carbon dioxide and methane). There are many processes that absorb carbon dioxide and aid in the formation of this equilibrium. The most important are forest growth and plankton growth with resultant wood formation and carbonate rock (limestone) formation on the ocean floor. The ocean itself also is a key absorber of carbon dioxide. Recently, mankind started to put carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere by mining and burning fossil fuel, thus unbalancing the equilibrium and warming started. Now warming will increase until forests and oceans absorb the excess carbon dioxide. It is also true that the warming caused by man will cause more warming caused by nature. This process may become self-sustaining and “run away” as follows. Man causes warming and the glaciers and permafrost melt as a result. If mankind stops providing greenhouse gasses, the glacier loss still reduces reflection, and the permafrost melting exposes dead vegetation to decay, which generates carbon dioxide and methane, so warming continues to increase. In addition, this self-sustaining runaway can inject fresh glacier melt water and heat up the ocean especially in the arctic, which can then slow or even shut down the ocean circulation that distributes heat and nutrients around the oceans. Then plankton production is reduced and carbon dioxide sequestration in limestone from plankton is reduced, and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increased. Since land temperature is heavily dependent on ocean temperature, this shutdown impacts the temperature of the land. Thus man’s contribution is only a trigger, and the warming process continues until the forest and ocean absorb the new carbon dioxide as fast as it is emitted and a new equilibrium is formed at a much higher carbon dioxide and temperature level. Clearly the old equilibrium process has been overwhelmed, because the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere is growing rapidly. Part of this increase is due to mankind cutting the forests, but the greenhouse gasses from fossil fuels are thought to be the most important contributor now, with the secondary emissions just beginning.
Now, it should be noted that there is a natural circulation of carbon dioxide in nature. Plankton absorbs carbon dioxide from the ocean and incorporates it into their shells. When they die, the shells fall to the ocean floor and make a layer of limestone. The ocean floor then moves to the sub duction zone where it is heated and the carbon dioxide comes out and up to the surface of the land through volcanic emissions. This circulation makes life possible. If it weren’t for circulation, prior life would have used up the carbon dioxide originally in the atmosphere and there would be none left for current life. The best way to halt this warming process is to augment this carbon dioxide sequestration process and store the carbon dioxide in the bottom of the ocean where it can do no harm. In fact, if runaway warming gets a firm foothold, this may be the only way to stop warming.
There is an opportunity to provide a “carbon sink” for carbon dioxide and methane by gathering, concentrating, solidifying (freezing) and sinking these gasses in the ocean to the ocean floor where they will remain until they are sub ducted millions of years in the future. If this “sink” were controllable and strong enough, it would be possible to actually control the greenhouse gas concentration and thus the earth temperature and ocean salinity. In essence, we would be controlling the natural carbon dioxide circulation to achieve the optimum average earth temperature for earth plants and animals and for us. The potential for controlling climate has been noticed before, but there has never been a practical means of removing enough carbon dioxide and methane from the air to control the climate before. However, such a procedure is now be possible as will be discussed below.
Weather
Since global warming will increase the strength of storms (including hurricanes and tornados) and temperature extremes, it will quickly become a very serious problem. In fact, an increase in the strength and damage of hurricanes and tornados has already been noticed (hurricanes Katrina and Sandy and tornado Moore). Eventually, such increases will become so serious that civilization will no longer recover from a bad set of storms before a new bad set occurs. Then the world standard of living will degrade until civilization collapses into nations scrabbling for existence. Thus we must ask if anything can be done to mitigate this trend.
We are just beginning to understand enough about weather and what controls it to ask if we can guide its trends. The path of travel and precise timing of single storms is not easily predicted and so may not be easily controlled, but the average weather trends and storm strength may be. For example, one cannot start, direct and limit one storm to a specific location, but one may be able to limit the average strength of hurricanes (typhoons) in a general area, provide some storm direction, and control the average amount of continental rainfall in some areas. In order to describe what might be done in weather control, I will consider the northern part of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) as my main example. Other oscillations exist and can be similarly used to gain desired ends.
The ENSO oscillation operates around the equator in the Pacific. When conditions are neutral, the prevailing wind moves west from a cool area near the continents in the east where a high pressure zone of cool, dry air forms because the continents block ocean evaporation and allow high altitude cool air to fall. This prevailing wind drags and thins the Eastern warm surface layer of the ocean and carries it west. The surface layer is limited in depth by the thermo cline, which is a zone of water that cools rapidly as the depth increases. When this neutral condition settles into stability, the eastern Pacific shows a cool surface layer caused by the upwelling of cool, deep waters from beneath the thermo cline, and this makes the air cool and dry above it and supports the eastern Pacific high pressure zone mentioned above. In the western Pacific, a thick, warm surface layer builds up above the thermo cline as the warm water is formed and dragged across the Pacific, and this makes the air warm and moist above it. This high air moves east, cools, and rains out its moisture. Thus a circulation cell is formed in the air above the Pacific in which the western warm, moist (and thus light) air rises until it cools at high altitudes and is transported east, and then sinks over the eastern, cool surface layer close to the continent as mentioned above, reinforces it with cool air, and turns west. The western Pacific then forms rainy, stormy weather with thunderstorms that can be bent around by the trade winds into a circular pattern. Some of these storms become typhoons (Pacific hurricanes). These typhoons are then carried pole ward by the trade winds, and pushed into south China or the Philippians. In contrast, the western edge of North and South America remain cool and dry up as far as central California and down to mid Chile and thus cause the mildly dry conditions noted in southwest US, western Mexico, western Peru and northwest Chile. If the atmospheric cell shifts (oscillates) east, the warm, thick ocean layer is pushed further east, and the oscillation shifts into the El Nino condition where the wind falls off, the cool, dry surface layer close to South America disappears, the mid-ocean zone heats up and the rains, thunderstorms and typhoons appear there. The Typhoons that form are then pushed toward Japan or Guam. The western coast of North and South America become warm and moist, thunderstorms form there, and torrential rains fall on some parts of the west coast of the continents. Also, the winters in southwest US become wetter. In contrast, if the atmospheric cell shifts west, the warm, thick, wet ocean layer moves west, and the oscillation shifts into the La Nina condition. If the atmospheric circulation cell moves west, the cool, dry surface layer strengthens in the east ocean and on the continents. Australia, Indonesia and the Philippians experience torrential rains and the typhoons (cyclones in India) formed turn toward Indonesia and India. The western edge of North and South America then becomes very dry and drought conditions result. Southwest US then has extremely dry winters. Note that this same type of oscillation occurs in other places in the world. For example, in the Atlantic, it results in a similar oscillation and atmospheric circulation cell, and it forms a series of hurricanes moving into the Caribbean and onto the east coast of the US. It should be noted that the event that triggers a shift along the equator is unknown at present. It may be only a chance local event, but once the condition is formed, it is temporarily stable.
The reader will see that there may be an opportunity to cool the surface of the ocean in a new position with cold water from below the thermo cline and so move the atmospheric circulation cell. If enough movement is achieved, a change in the oscillation state may be locked in. Specifically, by cooling the surface water at least 0.5 deg C and perhaps as much as 3 deg C in a new position along the equator, it may be possible to shift the cool spot, form a new high and thus move the atmospheric circulation cell to a different place. In addition, it may be possible to reduce the power or change the direction of any thunderstorms being formed (which might then become hurricanes) by cooling the ocean surface in the center of them, or preferentially cooling on one side of them. For example, if the existing condition is neutral, cooling the ocean on the eastern edge of the western cool spot would be expected to cause a high pressure zone above the cool water and increase the wind blowing to the west from this new point. This may then thin the water layer there and bring the cool, deep water to the surface, and shift the atmospheric circulation cell east and cause the oscillation to become more like El Nino. Cooling the western side of the cool spot may have the opposite effect and cause the oscillation to become more like La Nina. Note that if the condition that triggers the shift from El Nino to La Nina were known, it may be much easier to bring about these shifts, so this question must be investigated.
Consider the possibility of a complete weather control system that controls the cool spot position by the above methods. For example, a movement of the cool spot to the west may reduce the rainfall on the western edge of North and South America and increase the rainfall on Australia. A movement of the cool spot to the east may increase the rainfall on the west coast of North and South America. Controlling the speed of the movement of the spot might keep typhoons from completely forming in a given spot. Shifting the cool spot after only a short time would certainly reduce the amount of flooding that results from a long term fixed position of the ocean cold spot. Cooling the surface layers can reduce the power of a storm if the cooling is accomplished symmetrically in its eye and thus keep it from becoming a typhoon. Asymmetrical cooling may also make storm steering possible. The use of monomolecular oil films can also be used to slow evaporation. Of course, considerable experimentation will be required to determine how to steer a storm in detail if, indeed, steering is possible. It is clear, however, that an atmospheric circulation cell with resultant ocean cool and warm spots is a stable condition because they occur now, so it can be expected that a cool spot shift, if large enough and maintained long enough, should shift the circulation cell incrementally into a new position that the new cell position will reinforce itself. The main questions are how much change in the new cool spot size and temperature is required to achieve a shift, and what impact such a procedure would have on the upwelling of the cool, deep waters beneath the new cool spot.
The potential for controlling weather has been noticed before, but there has never been a practical means of pumping water from below the thermo cline to a large area of the surface of the ocean before. Such a process may now be possible, however, as discussed below. Note that this procedure works to control a natural process, and so appears to be the “correct” way to accomplish weather control and not disturb other systems.
THE EVIDENCE
Climate
The evidence shows the following trends.
- Some areas show a warming trend and some show cooling. A computer model is required to interpret the data because climate zones are shifting as well as warming. Generally, however, warming trends seem to dominate as shown by the series of record highs in temperature seen around the earth recently.
- The glaciers and ice caps are melting.
- The melted ice does appear to be raising the mean sea level; although this measurement is more controversial. The mean sea level appears different at different earth positions due to the effect of storms, currents, tides and the shape of the ocean bottom, so a computer model is needed to interpret the data. The aquifers near the ocean are becoming saltier, also.
- The climate zones are moving north in the northern hemisphere (and south in the southern hemisphere). This results in desertification in some productive agricultural areas and water logging in others. In the zones close to the equator, there has also been a loss of the normal rainy season-dry season cycle in some areas near the equator. Instead, the weather is dry for a long time, and then extremely wet with resulting floods. This makes it hard to use normal agriculture techniques in the areas affected.
- The oceans are warming and spreading, resulting in the death of some reefs and cypress forests.
- Hurricanes appear to be increasing in strength-consider Katrina and Sandy.
- Aerosols in the earth’s atmosphere are changing, but they are hard to measure. New, more accurate satellite borne measuring devices are just coming on line.
- The permafrost is melting and decaying, especially in northern Canada and Siberia.
- The ocean circulation is weakening, but has not shut down. Remember that this is extremely important since circulation determines the weather patterns on the land adjacent to the ocean. In addition, circulation determines the distribution of heat and nutrients in the ocean.
- Fish production is falling off in many areas of the earth. This is partly due to over fishing, but it is also due to the changes in the ocean conditions that may be caused by climate change. The production of fish appears to be replaced by the production of jellyfish in some areas.
- Several computer programs that integrate these measurements exist and they are being tested. They show a climate-warming trend, but the earth does not appear to have reached runaway. The accuracy of these programs is not yet completely confirmed with data, but this accuracy is improving.
Thus, the current data on earth climate indicators are consistent with Global Warming.
Weather
The evidence shows the following trends.
- The ocean and air is observed to be getting warmer, and hurricanes and tornados are observed to be getting stronger.
- The strength of a hurricane is observed to be proportional to the sea surface temperature.
- The weather patterns observed match the theory of weather oscillation proposed above.
Thus, the current data are consistent with the weather models proposed and support the potential for weather control.
IS ACTION REQUIRED?
Climate
Many still do not believe in climate warming. A counter theory has been proposed. This theory says that the warming trend that we observe is due to changes in solar radiation level and earth rotation axis wobble. Since there is nothing we can do about these causes, these critics propose that we do nothing that would upset the world economy, and wait to see what happens. This procedure could be very dangerous, as we shall see.
Suppose nothing is done, but global warming theory is correct. Then the following long-term bad effects are likely.
- The glaciers are part of the earth’s fresh water storage system that man uses extensively. If they disappear, the rivers will tend to flood in the winter and spring and dry up in the summer, which is bad for man.
- The ice shelves in the Arctic and Antarctic are excellent fish food producers and if they disappear, this food source for fish may disappear along with the fish they feed.
- If the mean sea level rises to its maximum, some of the most important and valuable seacoast real estate in the world will be submerged, and coastal aquifers will become salty.
- If climate zones move north (and south), significant amounts of productive agricultural land will be lost. Other agricultural land may be gained, but it will take time and money to develop it, and many existing people will be left without food.
- If the oceans warm to the maximum, a large portion of the earth’s reefs will die, and many coastal cypress forests will be damaged. This will damage the associated fish breeding grounds. These problems will cause the reduction of an important food source for man and other animals.
- The permafrost will continue to melt and emit carbon dioxide and methane.
- The ocean circulation will continue to weaken and perhaps shut off.
The above effects have, for the most part, a limited bad impact on the earth’s livability. However, two impacts of this cascade of events, the loss of reflective ice and the melting and decay of the permafrost, may cause runaway warming. This would eventually result in serious ocean circulation reduction and perhaps shutdown. This reduction may cause weather change and species loss, although the final impact is not clear. Inaction would lock in all the other bad effects and open us to many future problems that are even worse. If runaway is possible and something can be done, action now is absolutely imperative.
Weather
Hurricanes Susan and Katrina show the potential for new storms coming before recovery from old storms is possible, and the resulting degradation of the standard of living in a large area of the east coast. If weather control is possible, action now is imperative.
THE SOLUTION
A practical and economically positive solution may be possible for both climate and weather control without damaging the global economic system. Consider the following solutions.
Climate Control
This solution consists of an energy generating system that can reduce carbon dioxide emission and sequester the remainder. Specifically:
O Reduction of fossil fuel use, which would consist of substituting for fossil fuel power plants:
– Ocean based wind and wave generators and solar cells to provide both base load energy and portable fuels. (See ap2-Jan-this site)
– Deep thermal well power plants where economical.
– Nuclear power plants where economical and safe
– Electrical cars with solar cells to extend range.
– Alcohol and oil from waste wood, algae and kelp for portable power plant operations such as aircraft, trains, cars and trucks.
O Sequestering the carbon dioxide, which would consist of putting the carbon dioxide in the:
– Deep oceans by freezing the carbon dioxide and sinking it to the deep ocean floor (see ap2-Jan-this site). This is equivalent to increasing the sequestration of carbon dioxide in limestone by plankton.
– Deep rock formations by use of deep thermal wells.
– Deep oceans by increasing the growth of plankton by fertilizing the surface of the ocean with soluble iron and other nutrients.
It should be noted that only by using ocean based wind and wave generators to provide energy and freeze and sink the carbon dioxide in the deep ocean is enough capability availability to solve this problem. The other methods can only help. Consider the following facts. The specific gravity of solid carbon dioxide (dry ice) is 1.55. Thus if it is frozen and packaged, it will sink to the bottom of ocean, where the low temperature and high pressure will maintain it in solid form. Whatever escapes the package will take centuries to pass through the thermo cline. The first step in sequestration is to purify and gather the gas. This is done by absorption in cold sodium or potassium carbonate solutions. On heating, the resulting bicarbonate liberates carbon dioxide and reverts to carbonate, and the cycle can be repeated. Because of the low concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, this may be a rate limiting process. More research is required on this issue. The carbon dioxide is then frozen. The energy required to freeze it starting at 60 deg F is 160 KWH/ton. The carbon dioxide generated by man is 2.4 million lb/sec, so 690 million KW is required to freeze this carbon dioxide and send it to the bottom of the ocean. Now 200 million SEMAN can operate on the oceans of the world and make a profit (see below), so each would need to provide 3.5 KW of power to sequester all the carbon dioxide generated by man. Furthermore, this new option will soon be available. Aquater2050 LLC is working on a program to place ocean based wind turbines, wave generators and solar cells on the high-energy areas (wind speed >15kn) of the oceans. Such vessels would generate 100 to 400KW in electrical energy. One of the better places to find high-energy winds is in the ENSO-trade wind zone discussed above for weather control. Calculations indicate that roughly 200 million vessels that harvest energy can operate profitably in this and other high-energy areas of the world. In addition; the world has a current need for jobs. Thus it is expected that these vessels will be built and sent to sea rapidly as soon as the prototype is finished and tested. Such vessels are relatively inexpensive ($100,000 for materials, and an equal amount for labor-about the price of a house). So we may expect that enough vessels will be built and launched to accomplish this sequestering goal.
Operating efficiency is also good. The harvesting apparatus for all three energy types can be operated on one platform or vessel (called a SEMAN) to save capital expense, and each vessel will grow it’s own food and purify its own water. Thus a large number of SEMAN will be available for climate and weather control and the cost of operation will be small.
Using these vessels, full-scale climate control experiments could be done by SEMAN owners if the test equipment were provided to them, since the owner would already be in the correct area (equator and trade wind zones) and be generating the necessary energy. The SEMAN also automatically provides food for operation for long periods at sea, and most of the equipment needed is normal equipment.
Weather Control
In order accomplish this kind of climate control; we must work out an economical means of pumping the cool water from below the surface of the ocean and provide a group of vessels well positioned to use this means. Simple calculations have been performed which give the following results. The surface temperature change required is expected to be 0.5 to 3 deg C, and the area of interest is a few hundreds to a few thousands of square miles. A few hundred square miles is thought to be significant in hurricane or typhoon control. Changing the state of the atmospheric oscillation is expected to require a few thousand square miles. The depth needed to get a few degrees change of water temperature is 10 to 100 meters depending on how close one is to the cold spot. The closer one is, the shallower the thermo cline is. The amount of cool water needed to cool the ocean surface is expected to be 0.1 to 0.5 inches. If we wish to cool a strip of water 200 feet wide to a depth of 0.1 inches, pulling from an ocean depth of 10 meters, a 40KW pump would be required, and about 10KN would be a reasonable speed of progression for the vessel. A strip 10KMI wide (for hurricane control) would require 250 vessels operating near the storm in its early stage. A strip 100KMI wide would require 2500 ships (for ENSO state position changes) operating near the equator during autumn and winter (the critical time). Renting 250 small vessels for 6 months for hurricane control would require at least $25 million. Renting 2500 small vessels for 6 months to test the impact of surface temperature alteration for areas of a few hundred to a few thousand square miles would cost at least $250 million. In both cases, the chances of success with the first set of 6 Month tests are modest at best. A test program with many tests will be required. Thus using conventional boats does not appear to be a practical or economical way to go.
On the other hand, the new option mentioned above will soon be available. Aquater2050 LLC is working on a program to place ocean based wind turbines, wave generators and solar cells on the high-energy areas (wind speed >15kn) of the oceans. Such vessels would generate 100 to 400KW in electrical energy. One of the better places to find high-energy winds is in the ENSO-trade wind zone currently being discussed. Calculations indicate that roughly 200 million vessels that harvest energy can operate profitably in this and other high-energy areas of the world. In addition; the world has a current need for jobs. Thus it is expected that these vessels will be built and sent to sea rapidly as soon as the prototype is finished. Such vessels are non-polluting and relatively inexpensive ($100,000 for materials, and an equal amount for labor). The harvesting apparatus for all three energy types can be operated on one platform or vessel (called a SEMAN) to save capital expense, and each vessel will grow it’s own food and purify its own water. Thus a large number of SEMAN would be available for weather control experiments and the cost of experiments would be small. Using these vessels, a full-scale weather control experiment could be done by the SEMAN owners if the test equipment were provided to them, since the owner would already be in the correct area (equator and trade wind zones) and be generating the necessary energy. Note that the SEMAN automatically provide food for operation at sea, and most of the equipment needed is normal equipment.
OPERATION CAPABILITY
Climate Control
There does not seem to be any major problem with providing the necessary carbon dioxide sequestration capability for climate control. The oceans have enough area in high-energy zones (wind velocity >15KN) to allow for 200 million SEMAN, and they can provide enough sequestration capability at the bottom of the ocean for the earth’s needs. Here we are not fighting nature; we are merely using nature’s own carbon cycle to increase the ocean’s sequestration capability.
There is potentially a major timing problem with the climate control method given above, however. Both the ocean based wind and wave generators and the deep thermal wells are being developed by small companies that, under normal development procedures, would not be expected to have a large impact for 30 years, and would not be expected to start reversing the warming trend for 40 to 50 years. The ice caps and the permafrost layers are expected to melt in 15 to 25 years. Thus we may be in a state of runaway global warming before the solution can come on line. An acceleration of the development program may be necessary to overcome this difficulty.
Weather Control
There does not seem to be any obstacle to initial experiments as long as a sufficient number of SEMAN are available. The final success of weather control will then be dependent on the results of those first experiments. Note that we are not fighting the natural weather cycle of nature. We are merely regulating the cycle using a minimum of SEMAN energy.
An experiment could start by moving a cold spot to the west. To accomplish this, the SEMAN can pump cold water on the western edge of the cold spot close to the equator. It is expected that the old cold spot would then open to the west, and the eastern edge would close in and become warmer because the cold air from the circulation cell generated by the hot air rising in the west no longer reaches the eastern edge of the old cold spot to cool it. If the cold air from the circulation cell is enough to reinforce the shifted spot, we have, in effect, moved the old cold spot west. The western motion of the cold spot pushes the corresponding warm spot further west because the wind strength is the same and continues to push until the sun and warm sea makes the air rise. Thus the whole circulation cell is moved west. This western push can be continued until the western edge hits a continent, then the western warm spot loses evaporation, which makes the circulation cell slowly die. The dying circulation cell leaves a span of ocean behind it without atmospheric circulation, and it stagnates and warms to become a new pool of warm water pushing up a rising column of warm, moist air. A surface breeze will then form behind it pushed by a solar warm spot moving with the earth’s rotation along with the slightly cooler air above the water that has had less time to warm in the sun. The SEMAN can then travel back behind the slightly cooler water and start cooling the surface of the sea to reinforce atmospheric cell formation and start the new cell moving again. The thermo cline is near the sea surface in the cool spot where we operate, so the depth we pump from to get cold water is small and requires little energy. If more area or more cold is required, new lines of adjacent SEMAN can be added in sequence behind the first. If the speed of the western travel of the circulation is rapid enough, there will not normally be time enough for the Correolis forces to curl thunderstorms around into typhoons. Thus the typhoon problem is greatly reduced. For those thunderstorms that do curl around, small groups of SEMAN can penetrate them, cool the sea surface symmetrically to reduce the power of the storm, and cool asymmetrically to steer the storm into safe areas. This can be done in the very early stages of storm development when the winds are not powerful enough to be dangerous for the SEMAN. Note that in almost all parts of this cycle, the SEMAN will be operating in steady, moderate winds that will provide the energy needed to move and control the circulation cell and the incipient typhoons.
CONCLUSIONS
In summary, there is a critical need for climate and weather control, and it appears possible to control both within limits. The limits to the ability of the techniques to be used are not yet clear and must be established by experiment. The key to success is to avoid fighting nature. One must aim at regulating nature to avoid the destructive extremes in average temperature, wind speed, sea level and wave height that are too common now, and do it with a minimum of SEMAN energy expended.
Climate Control
It appears to be feasible to control the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by sequestering it in the deep rocks on land and in the abyssal depths of the ocean. The key to the success of this process is the SEMAN, an ocean going vessel that gathers energy from wind, waves and sun, and uses this energy to freeze carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and sink it in the ocean. Controlling the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere controls the average temperature of the atmosphere and thus the climate.
Weather Control
It appears to be feasible to control some weather patterns on the earth such as the ENSO oscillation in the Pacific Ocean by controlling the sea surface temperature through pumping cold water from below the thermo cline to cool the warm surface waters. This procedure allows us to control, within limits, some weather patterns and rainfall on the lands near the ENSO zone (the west coast of North and South America, North Australia, Indonesia and India). In addition, it allows us to control the strength and direction of incipient typhoons (hurricanes) in the ENSO zone.
Notes
- The design work for the SEMAN is done. The physical prototype of the SEMAN is nearly complete-see “SEMAN prototype”, this site, and bottom of the home page.
- To donate to help complete this prototype, click “Add To Cart” on the home page.