<h2>Breezing Up</h2>
<p>The devastation of hurricanes such as Florence and Harvey is a reminder of the <a href="https://futurism.com/this-hurricane-season-has-been-exceptionally-bad-and-its-not-going-to-get-any-better" target="_blank" rel="noopener">terrible power of storms</a> and our apparent helplessness when they strike.</p>
<p>But new research suggests that there might be a way to fight hurricanes <a href="https://www.popsci.com/hurricane-speed-bumps-wind-farm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">before they come ashore</a> <strong>— </strong>and it might even help generate renewable electricity.</p>
<h2>Tilting Windmills</h2>
<p>According to <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aad245" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a paper</a> published this summer in the journal <em>Environmental Research Letters</em>, computer simulations suggest that offshore wind turbines suck the energy out of hurricanes and force them higher into the sky, resulting in decreased rainfall and potentially less destruction when they make landfall.</p>
<p>&#8220;Offshore wind farms definitely could be a potential tool to weaken hurricanes and reduce their damage,&#8221; author Cristina Archer, a professor at the University of Delaware, <a href="https://www.popsci.com/hurricane-speed-bumps-wind-farm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told <em>Popular Science</em></a>. &#8220;And they pay for themselves, ultimately, which is why I am excited about this.&#8221;</p>
<h2>Damage Plan</h2>
<p>Today&#8217;s wind farms often switch turbines off during high winds, so current wind farms aren&#8217;t a good defense mechanism against hurricanes.</p>
<p>But turbines scheduled to hit the market by 2020, Archer said, will be strong enough to withstand hurricane winds — so she&#8217;s hopeful they&#8217;ll be able to protect coastal communities, and maybe even generate some electricity in the process.</p>
<p><strong>READ MORE:</strong> <a href="https://www.popsci.com/hurricane-speed-bumps-wind-farm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scientists Want to Put &#8216;Speed Bumps&#8217; in Hurricane Alley to Slow Down Storms</a> [<em>Popular Science</em>]</p>
<p><em><strong>More on nanobots: <a href="https://futurism.com/death-count-hurricane-maria-recovery-puerto-rico" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Death Count from Hurricane Maria Was Way Off. That Might Slow Puerto Rico’s Recovery.</a></strong></em></p>


Offshore wind farms might be able to take the teeth out of hurricanes before they make landfall.

Huge wind farms could weaken hurricanes before they make landfall

Storm Chasers

New research suggests that offshore wind farms can suck the destructive energy out of hurricanes before they make landfall.

Huge Wind Farms Could Weaken Hurricanes Before They Make Landfall

Simulations show that turbines could suck destructive energy out of hurricanes.

Architects are preparing for a future of unpredictable weather.

Life at sea? 6 futuristic homes that will protect you from climate change

Sci-Fi Visions

As climate change puts existing human habitats at growing risk, some researchers, architects, and designers are getting creative about the kinds of dwelling humans might soon inhabit. 

Life At Sea? Six Futuristic Homes That Will Protect You From Climate Change

From floating islands to amphibious yachts, these pads are designed to keep you safe.

<h2>Virgin Islands</h2>
<p>Last month, hurricanes Irma and Maria caused widespread destruction throughout the Caribbean. Having lived in the British Virgin Islands for over a decade, experiencing the storms firsthand from a cellar on his private island, philanthropist Richard Branson has committed to playing a major role in efforts to rebuild.</p>
<p>Branson is currently assembling a team to work on a project he&#8217;s calling the Disaster Recovery Marshall Plan. The name is a nod to the original Marshall Plan, a program run by the United States that helped countries in western Europe recover in the aftermath of World War II.</p>
<p><iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wg1MOIqP6sU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>The plan will outline a method for improving infrastructure across the Caribbean, which presently has outdated power grids that <a href="https://futurism.com/these-7-countries-want-to-say-goodbye-to-fossil-fuel-based-cars/">rely </a><a href="https://futurism.com/these-7-countries-want-to-say-goodbye-to-fossil-fuel-based-cars/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on fossil fuel.  </a>Branson&#8217;s plan would see these replaced by improved modern versions that make use of renewable sources of energy.</p>
<p>“We want to move the Caribbean countries into clean energy and make them more sustainable, which will make dealing with hurricanes much easier,&#8221; <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/caribbean-energy-branson/richard-bransons-green-energy-plan-for-caribbean-may-include-debt-relief-idUSL8N1N27JF" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Branson told Reuters</a>. “The Caribbean Heads of State agree with one voice that this is a good idea.&#8221;</p>
<p>Another storm could hit the areas affected by the recent hurricanes at any time, so repairs need to be swift and sturdy enough to withstand that possible scenario. The new grid will be designed with resistance to the effects of extreme weather in mind.</p>
<h2>The Green Grid</h2>
<p>In the wake of Hurricane Maria&#8217;s impact on Puerto Rico, Elon Musk embarked upon a very public attempt to secure a contract to allow Tesla to <a href="https://futurism.com/puerto-rico-in-talks-to-install-tesla-power-grids-powered-by-solar-energy-and-storage-batteries/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rebuild the country&#8217;s power grid.</a> The job <a href="https://futurism.com/a-tiny-firm-beat-tesla-to-a-300m-puerto-rico-power-contract/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eventually went to Whitefish</a>, but the situation served to illustrate how attractive this kind of work is for energy specialists.</p>
<p>Tesla wanted to use the aftermath of Hurricane Maria to demonstrate the strength of its <a href="https://futurism.com/teslas-powerpacks-will-help-power-the-worlds-first-solar-and-wind-energy-storage-project/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Powerpack battery system</a>. A successful implementation at a time when all eyes are on relief efforts could help foster usage of the technology in other parts of the world.</p>
<p>Branson may have a similar strategy in mind when it comes to the Disaster Recovery Marshall Plan. In 2016, Virgin acquired BMR Energy, a company that develops wind energy projects across the Caribbean and Latin America.</p>
<p>In 2017, we&#8217;ve seen hurricanes have caused a devastating amount of destruction across the Caribbean. It&#8217;s crucial that the rebuilding process gets underway as quickly as possible to help the people that were affected return to normalcy. That said, it&#8217;s just as important that these efforts produce a power grid that won&#8217;t be destroyed by the <a href="https://futurism.com/this-hurricane-season-has-been-exceptionally-bad-and-its-not-going-to-get-any-better/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">next round of extreme storms</a>.</p>


These countries need a power grid that won't be destroyed by the next round of extreme storms.

Richard Branson wants to spearhead efforts to rebuild power grids in the Caribbean

Debris on the road after Hurricane Irma hits the Florida Keys

Earth & Energy

Hurricanes have caused widespread destruction across the Caribbean. Richard Branson is drafting a plan to build new power grids that use renewable energy.

His Disaster Recovery Marshall Plan is being prepared in response to recent hurricanes.

Richard Branson Wants to Spearhead Efforts to Rebuild Power Grids in the Caribbean

<h2>Climate Change</h2>
<p>Hurricanes <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/hurricane-irma-42848">in the Caribbean</a> and deadly floods <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2017/sep/12/bangladesh-severe-disaster-flooding">across South Asia</a> have once again raised the issue of climate justice.</p>
<figure id="attachment_102450" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-102450" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/09/3660417178_49a2dbc9e2_b.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="768" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image Source: Todd Dwyer/ Flickr Commons</figcaption></figure>
<p>The association between such events and <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/8/28/16213268/harvey-climate-change">climate change</a> is now beyond serious question: we have had 30 years of well-founded scientific warnings about the relationship between increasing global temperatures and the incidence and severity of extreme weather. Much more problematic is the question of responsibility for climate change itself, and who should justly pay compensation for the resulting damage.</p>
<p>This is complicated, and there are no clear categories of winners and losers, or responsible and blameless. Consider how the benefits from greenhouse gas emissions are usually divorced from the impacts of climate change, yet hurricane-hit Texas owes much of its wealth to oil. Or look at the extraordinary inequalities among those affected by the storms – most are relatively poor, but a few are <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/12/richard-branson-hurricane-irma-devastated-the-bvi.html">among the world’s richest people</a>.</p>
<h2>The Long Struggle for ‘Climate Justice’</h2>
<p>International debate on climate justice has usually occurred within the UN, via its Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in a process which led to the Paris Agreement. For much of the time since its inception in 1992 there was a heavy focus on cutting emissions rather than on adaptation to the damaging consequences of climate change.</p>
<p>Responsibility for global warming was usually framed as an obligation for developed states to make the initial moves to reduce their emissions, under the concept of “<a href="https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng.pdf">common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities</a>”. Climate justice was seen as something developed states owed less developed states, and were obliged to deliver so the latter had an incentive to cut their emissions, too.</p>
<p>However, by the <a href="http://unfccc.int/meetings/bali_dec_2007/meeting/6319.php">Bali conference in 2007</a> it was clear that climate-related sea level rise and extreme weather events were already happening. Adaptation was therefore moved up the agenda alongside emissions cuts. In crude terms, if the developed world wanted a new comprehensive agreement on tackling climate change it would have to provide sufficient guarantees of assistance for the less developed majority. These included a proposed US$100 billion per annum Green Climate Fund but also new form of compensation for “<a href="http://www.icccad.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Loss-and-damage.pdf">loss and damage for countries vulnerable</a>” to hurricanes and other climate-related disasters.</p>
<p>The “loss and damage” mechanism made it <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-should-we-compensate-poor-countries-for-loss-and-damage-from-climate-change-55612">into the 2015 Paris Agreement</a> but has not yet been fully implemented. It was a controversial topic, however, as it raised the question of liability or even reparation for climate damage. Direct responsibility was both difficult to establish and resolutely rejected by developed countries.</p>
<h2>Focus on Vulnerable Individuals</h2>
<p>The problem is these issues are discussed within the context of a system of self-interested nation states. Climate change requires a global, concerted effort, yet entrenched political structures within each country reinforce competitive and antagonistic outlooks. It is always difficult, for example, to make the case for foreign governmental assistance when this is ranged against domestic poverty.</p>
<p>To be sure, some of the more progressive rich countries do reflect a “communitarian” approach which recognises some moral obligations to assist vulnerable states. This goes beyond the strict minimum in international law of the <a href="https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng.pdf">avoidance of harm</a>, but it certainly does not admit any direct responsibility or liability. At most, this conception of international climate justice is based upon a recognition that the populations of other countries should not be allowed to deteriorate below minimal standards of human existence and is common to other areas of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.</p>
<p>Yet such state-based thinking remains unable to handle the complexity and all-encompassing nature of climate change. What’s needed is an alternative <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137273406">“cosmopolitan” approach to climate justice</a>. Under cosmopolitanism the focus is on individual human beings and their needs and rights, all of whom would exist in one community where nationality is considered irrelevant to moral worth. This means a Bangladeshi farmer or Caribbean fisherman have as much right to be protected from the impact of global warming as someone in Texas or London and, in this sense, cosmopolitan climate justice mirrors the evolution of international human rights principles.</p>
<p>Nationality is often used to indicate development, or vulnerability to natural hazards, yet such categories are essentially misleading. As illustrated by flooded homes and destroyed roofs everywhere from Barbuda to Houston, it is more useful to think of rich and poor (or safe and vulnerable) people rather than countries.</p>
<p>True climate justice will have to reorientate the debate away from state sovereignty and international standing towards a focus on personal harm. A system of <a href="http://www.tyndall.ac.uk/sites/default/files/publications/twp136.pdf">individual carbon accounting</a> would also help so that people make a contribution to poverty reduction and disaster relief appropriate to their wealth and lifestyle.</p>
<p>As hurricanes engulf numerous countries at once, and indirectly affect even more, climate change powerfully illustrates the need for creative thinking about a truly global cosmopolitanism in which the avoidance of human suffering comes before self-interest and it is recognised that there are many poor and vulnerable people in “rich countries” and fabulously rich people in “poor countries”.</p>


The association between hurricanes and climate change is now beyond serious question

Who should pay for damage associated with climate change – and who should be compensated?

Climate change requires a global, concerted effort, yet entrenched political structures within each country reinforce competitive and antagonistic outlooks.

Who Should Pay for Damage Associated With Climate Change – and Who Should Be Compensated?

Climate change requires a global, concerted effort.

<h2>On the Rise</h2>
<p>No sooner had Hurricane Harvey’s record rains receded from Houston and neighboring cities than the <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/5/16254872/hurricane-irma-2017-caribbean-florida-keys-puerto-rico-wind-speed-record">residents of Florida began bracing</a> for a wallop from an even more powerful storm. And hurricane season hasn’t even peaked yet.</p>
<p>This begs the question: Is the number of major natural disasters striking the United States actually increasing, or does the media’s natural tendency to overhype conflict only make it seem so?</p>
<p>The federal government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration actually maintains a website that can help answer this question. <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions">Its list of billion-dollar disasters</a> goes back to 1980 and <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/events.pdf">records the date, location, number of deaths and total cost</a> of each one.</p>
<p>As an economist, I take a different approach from how a climate or environmental scientist might answer the question. Major disasters can wreak tremendous damage, such as destroying wild habitats, rerouting major rivers and killing innocent people. However, assigning specific values to these kinds of damages is difficult.</p>
<p>Assessing the direct economic damage of a disaster is comparatively simpler. Insurance companies and government agencies receive damage and loss claims for specific amounts. These figures are then adjusted to account for the uninsured to produce a total.</p>
<p>In my own analysis, I will start with these figures but make an additional adjustment which I believe more accurately answers whether catastrophic disasters are indeed occurring at a greater frequency.</p>
<h2>How the Government Tracks Disasters</h2>
<p>The government has gone to great efforts to make <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/monitoring-content/billions/docs/smith-and-katz-2013.pdf">sure its disaster data are reliable</a> by combining data from government agencies like FEMA, the USDA and private insurance claims.</p>
<p>And it doesn’t just track the hurricanes making headlines right now, but <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/monitoring-content/billions/docs/lott-and-ross-2003.pdf">all kinds of large disasters</a>, from winter storms and heat waves to droughts and floods. The data also include winters when subfreezing temperatures destroy billions of dollars of crops and kill large numbers of livestock.</p>
<p>The government ensures the <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/monitoring-content/billions/docs/smith-and-matthews-2015.pdf">costs are measured accurately</a>. The total cost of each event includes both losses covered and not covered by insurance. The losses include damage to buildings, roads and infrastructure, as well as items destroyed within buildings when a major disaster strikes. The figures also include some amounts lost by businesses because they were temporarily forced to shut down.</p>
<p>The figures, however, do not assign any value to lives lost. Even if a storm kills hundreds, no adjustment is made for these deaths.</p>
<p>Finally, the figures are adjusted for inflation. This is very important because US$1 billion in 1980 is actually equivalent to $3.15 billion today after adjusting for price changes. <a href="https://theconversation.com/latest-star-wars-film-may-be-biggest-movie-of-all-time-just-not-at-the-box-office-52406">Hollywood movies consistently break box office records</a> because the industry does not adjust ticket sales for inflation. Without an adjustment, disasters would consistently look more expensive over time and, like Hollywood films, seem to always shatter records for damage – even when they don’t.</p>
<h2>What the Data Show</h2>
<p>Since 1980 there have been 212 disasters, which NOAA calculates resulted in over <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/">$1.2 trillion in damage</a>.</p>
<p>My analysis of the NOAA data shows that the <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/time-series">number of billion-dollar disasters</a> has indeed been increasing over time. A typical year in the 1980s experienced on average 2.7 such disasters in the U.S. In the 1990s and 2000s, that average had climbed to 4.6 and 5.4 a year, respectively.</p>
<p>Since then, the frequency of costly disasters has soared. In this decade so far, each year has seen an average of 10.5 disasters. The scale of this increase amounts to one additional billion-dollar disaster every four years.</p>
<figure id="attachment_100600" style="width: 552px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-100600" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/09/Screen-Shot-2017-09-12-at-2.58.51-PM.png" alt="" width="552" height="358" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">The Conversation, CC-BY-ND. Image Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</figcaption></figure>
<h2>Do the Numbers Present a True Picture?</h2>
<p>Even with the inflation adjustment, a key reason we have more costly disasters is simply that the economy is much bigger today than it was in the 1980s.</p>
<p>When the economy was smaller, <a href="http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NormalizedHurricane2008.pdf">disasters caused less economic damage</a>. There were fewer homes, factories and office buildings to destroy, so it was harder for a natural disaster to cause a billion dollars of damage.</p>
<p>Since 1980, the <a href="https://bea.gov/national/index.htm">U.S. economy has more than doubled</a>. The economy grew from $6.5 trillion back then to $17 trillion as measured by inflation-adjusted GDP. To account for this, the NOAA data should be adjusted for the <a href="http://businessmacroeconomics.com/">economy’s size</a>. In other words, a storm happening today will cause more damage than an identical one occurring decades earlier simply because there is more to destroy.</p>
<p>A simple adjustment that incorporates economic growth divides each year’s inflation-adjusted GDP figure by the 1980 value and multiplies the answer by $1 billion. This results in a figure, in each year, that equates to the minimum amount of damage needed to be economically equivalent to $1 billion of destruction in 1980.</p>
<figure id="attachment_100601" style="width: 568px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-100601" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/09/Screen-Shot-2017-09-12-at-3.01.27-PM.png" alt="" width="568" height="615" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">The Conversation, CC-BY-ND. Image Source: NOAA, Author Calculations</figcaption></figure>
<p>For example, the resulting figure for 2010 is $2.3 billion. Or put another way, a storm that caused $1 billion in damage in 1980 would have caused about $2.3 billion worth in 2010.</p>
<p>While this isn’t a perfect adjustment and assumes all parts of the economy grow at roughly the same rate, it creates a more accurate measure of meaningfully billion-dollar disasters than the official data.</p>
<p>Excluding storms under the adjusted cutoff and redoing the statistical analysis shows we gain an additional billion-dollar disaster about every 25 years, not every four years. So the frequency of these natural disasters is increasing, but not nearly as fast as the raw NOAA data suggest.</p>
<h2>Losing the Lottery</h2>
<p>In general, people tend to <a href="http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/george.wu/research/papers/burns%20chiu%20wu%202010%20overweighting%20of%20small%20probabilities.pdf">overestimate the impact</a> of <a href="http://www.hec.edu/Knowledge/Strategy-Management/Micro-economics/Decision-making-Why-do-we-underestimate-rare-events">small-probability events</a>. For example, many people must think they have a pretty decent chance at <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mavis-wanczyk-powerball-winner-massachusetts-woman-claims-758-million-jackpot/">winning giant lotteries</a>; otherwise, no one would buy tickets.</p>
<p>Disasters are just like lotteries except people lose when their number comes up. While millions of people have been affected by Harvey, hundreds of millions more were not in the hurricane’s path. However, the news and dramatic live coverage make all of us worry that we are in danger.</p>
<p>Even still, given the number of costly disasters is rising – if slowly – policymakers and politicians should think about strengthening building codes and making other changes to ensure we’re better prepared and less at risk. If commercial and residential buildings are designed to handle a higher chance of being inundated by water, wind and fire the cost of cleaning up and time needed to recover from natural disasters will fall.</p>
<p>And what can you do? Be prepared. You never know when disaster might strike. <a href="https://emergency.cdc.gov/preparedness/plan/index.asp">Make a plan</a>. Have spare water, flashlights, food and your important papers accessible in one place in case it is time to flee.</p>


An economist attempts to answer the question.

Are catastrophic disasters striking more often?

 Is the number of major natural disasters striking the United States actually increasing, or does the media’s natural tendency to overhype conflict only make it seem so?

Are Catastrophic Disasters Striking More Often?

In this decade so far, each year has seen an average of 10.5 disasters.

What is the physics behind the perfect storm?

Watch: Here's how climate change influences hurricanes

Watch: Here’s How Climate Change Influences Hurricanes

<h2>Covering the Skies</h2>
<p>By now, we are all well aware of <a href="https://futurism.com/al-gores-an-inconvenient-sequel-is-here-and-we-need-it-more-than-ever/">the impact that anthropogenic climate change is having</a> on our planet&#8230;or at least, we should be. Although scientists are still debating some of the mechanisms that drive global warming (and their ultimate impact), scientists are <em>not </em>debating whether or not humans are driving these planet-altering environmental changes—sufficient evidence has already revealed that we are.</p>
<p>And one of the most prominent consequences of climate change: Hurricanes.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, as recent storm systems reveal, it is no longer a question solely of <em>prevention</em> because much damage has <em>already </em>been done. To this end, our efforts must be focused on stopping the damage that’s already begun, and trying to repair the harm we have caused.</p>
<p>Fortunately, a host of scientists are already working on solutions.</p>
<p>In an attempt to combat climate change, a multinational team of scientists are working on a plan to literally re-engineer the Earth in order to cool it down and reduce the impact of storm systems.</p>
<p>For example, a team led by John Moore, who is the head of China&#8217;s geoengineering research program, is studying how shading sulfate aerosols that are dispersed into the stratosphere could help cool the planet and reduce the number of hurricane occurrences. In an <a href="http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a17924/hurricane-geoengineering/">interview with </a><em><a href="http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a17924/hurricane-geoengineering/">Popular Mechanics</a>,</em> outlining how the plan works, Moore asserts, &#8220;We&#8217;re basically mimicking a volcano and saying we&#8217;re going to put 5 billion tons of sulfates a year into the atmosphere 20 kilometers high, and we&#8217;ll do that for 50 years.&#8221;</p>
<p><a class="body-el-link standard-body-el-link" href="http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1510530112">The initial research was published</a> in the journal <em data-redactor-tag="em">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.</em></p>
<p><iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4f45jA5UxB0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<h2>Taming the Storm</h2>
<p>In their current research model, in which the scientists tested a senario where the sulfate injection is doubled over time, the team found that incidences of Katrina-level hurricanes could be maintained (they would be kept at the same rate that we currently see) and that storm surges, which is the rise in seawater level that is caused solely by a storm, could be mitigated by half. The researchers noted that  the volcanic eruption in 1912 of Katmai in Alaska &#8220;loaded the Northern Hemisphere with aerosol [sulfates], and [was] followed by the least active hurricane season on record.&#8221; Moore explains that warmer waters can spark and fuel hurricanes, and cooling them with shading sulfates reduces the size and intensity of these hurricanes.</p>
<p>The researchers noted that the volcanic eruption in 1912 of Katmai in Alaska &#8220;loaded the Northern Hemisphere with aerosol [sulfates], and [was] followed by the least active hurricane season on record.&#8221; In short, Moore explains that warmer waters can spark and fuel hurricanes, and cooling them with shading sulfates reduces the size and intensity of these hurricanes. And remarkably, he asserts that this is one of the easiest and most viable ways to reduce the impact of such storms: &#8220;It&#8217;s probably the most doable in terms of the geoengineering scenarios we have. The amount is compatible with our existing airline traffic.&#8221;</p>
<p>The problem? Such works would eat away the planet&#8217;s atmosphere.</p>
<p>But custom-made aerosol particles that reflect sunlight, and don&#8217;t have a corrosive impact on the ozone, are a viable alternative. The research is still in its infancy, but if proper funding is given to research and development, this could be the way that we prevent catastrophic storms like Irma in the future.</p>


We may have a way to fight back against hurricane Irma.

As hurricanes continue to increase in frequency and intensity, we may be able to cool down the Earth and reduce the number of hurricanes by 50%.

/Hurricanes

Storm Chasers

Huge Wind Farms Could Weaken Hurricanes Before They Make Landfall

Sci-Fi Visions

Life At Sea? Six Futuristic Homes That Will Protect You From Climate Change

Earth & Energy

Richard Branson Wants to Spearhead Efforts to Rebuild Power Grids in the Caribbean

Earth & Energy

Who Should Pay for Damage Associated With Climate Change – and Who Should Be Compensated?

Earth & Energy

Are Catastrophic Disasters Striking More Often?

Earth & Energy

Watch: Here’s How Climate Change Influences Hurricanes

Earth & Energy

Scientists Are Working on a Plan to Re-Engineer the Planet to Reduce Hurricanes

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