You may find this pdf and the papers cited therein to be relevant to this discussion:
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~huberm/2007GC001842.pdf ___________________________________________________ Ken Caldeira Carnegie Institution Dept of Global Ecology 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA 94305 USA [email protected]; [email protected] http://dge.stanford.edu/DGE/CIWDGE/labs/caldeiralab +1 650 704 7212; fax: +1 650 462 5968 On Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 10:12 AM, Alvia Gaskill <[email protected]> wrote: > As the article indicates, what hurricanes do is move heat around, not > dissipate it. Whether this actually cools the planet is unknown. Given the > relatively small number of all tropical cyclones and their short lifetimes > of around a week or so, I doubt they matter very much on a global scale. > Another theory has them increasing atmospheric CO2 by stirring up surface > waters, although they may also reduce it by upwelling nutrients causing > phytoplankton blooms. Global warming didn't stop because of all the storms > in 2005 (the year of Katrina) and it didn't get worse in the subsequent > years due to fewer storms. > > http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/01/29/hurricane-climate-02.html > > Hurricanes' Climate Footprint Felt for Months Michael Reilly, Discovery > News > > > *Jan. 29, 2009* -- Just as a changing climate shapes the strength and > frequency of hurricanes <http://science.howstuffworks.com/hurricane.htm>, > the storms may have a huge effect on climate, leaving "footprints" in the > atmosphere and ocean. > > *Watch a video on hurricane-prone > coastlines.<http://science.howstuffworks.com/hurricane.htm> > * > > Hurricanes are infamous as harbingers of chaos -- flooding cities, ripping > houses to shreds, destroying beaches and even whole islands. And concerns > are growing that human-induced climate change may lead to stronger > storms<http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2006/06/05/hurricane_pla.html>whose > intensity will wreak even more havoc on coastal communities around the > world. > > But the full interplay between hurricanes and climate remains an enigma. > > Robert Hart of Florida State University analyzed two decades of climate > data from the tropics, and found that each storm leaves a wake of > anomalously cool water and warm air behind it that can persist anywhere from > one to two months, depending on the storm's strength. > > Scientists have known for years that hurricanes cause cool ocean waters to > well up, but Hart was surprised at how long the > atmosphere<http://science.howstuffworks.com/weather1.htm>retained a "memory" > of each storm. > > That got him thinking: if one storm can have such a lasting impact, what > does a whole season of storms do to Earth's climate? Would there be a > difference in effect between an active hurricane > season<http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/09/03/tropical-storms-hurricane.html>and > a quiet one? > > Hart performed a series of calculations and came up with a striking > preliminary answer: hurricane seasons that spawned more storms (like > 2005<http://science.howstuffworks.com/most-destructive-storms2.htm>, > for example) led to quieter winters in the northern hemisphere, and quiet > hurricane seasons led to winters with lots of storm activity. > > The reason, Hart speculates, is that hurricanes bring large amounts of heat > out of the tropics and toward the poles. When a season has more storms, more > heat is deposited closer to the poles and the tropics are cooled off more, > so that when winter sets in there is less temperature difference between the > poles and tropics. > > "That's what winter weather is -- movement of heat between the tropics and > the poles," Hart said. "So it's possible that hurricanes do more than their > fair share of the work during an active season, and there's less work to be > done during the winter." > > Gabriel Vecchi of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association's > Geophyscial Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, N.J., said Hart's work > gets at some of the toughest questions in meteorology today: What > *are*hurricanes? Do they serve a purpose? > > "It may sound like a stupid question, but I wonder what tropical cyclones' > role in the climate system is," he said. > > There are two general theories -- one which states that hurricanes are > simply the result of more potent forces, like El Nino pushing vast amounts > of heat and moisture around Earth's atmosphere. The other says hurricanes > are vital heat engines that transfer energy from the tropics toward the > poles. Through their fury, they are in fact bringing balance to the planet's > climate. > > "The list of results about how they affect climate is getting longer," > Vecchi said. "This is all hinting that tropical cyclones do something > profound." > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* f.m.maugis <[email protected]> > *To:* [email protected] ; [email protected] > *Sent:* Tuesday, June 02, 2009 11:30 AM > *Subject:* RE: [geo] Just in Time for Hurricane Season > > Why killing hurricanes, as far as they cool naturally our climate ? > > François MAUGIS > http://assee.free.fr > =============================================== > ------------------------------ > *De :* [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] *De la part de* Alvia Gaskill > *Envoyé :* mardi 2 juin 2009 01:09 > *À :* [email protected] > *Objet :* [geo] Just in Time for Hurricane Season > > I was admittedly a little drowsy when I saw the promo for this, but it > appears to be another incarnation of the ocean pipes idea or perhaps the > same one from Atmocean. One problem for would be hurricane killers is that > they seem to be appearing in places where they shouldn't, when they > shouldn't and rapidly intensifying, giving little time to react. Thus, > strategies that prevent the conditions that drive hurricane development > should probably be considered before filling up the Gulf of Mexico and the > Atlantic with plastic pipes. The cloud ships, the partial desert cover and > the stratospheric aerosols all could be part of the first line of defense. > > > http://science.discovery.com/tv-schedules/series.html?paid=48.15725.25642.34394.3 > > *NextWorld* > *Future Danger* > TV-G > > Future Danger enters a world where robots safeguard our cities, massive > underwater heating and cooling systems break up hurricanes before they hit > land, and advanced rocket interceptors protect the planet from asteroids > that could wipe out humanity. > > Air times in the U.S.: June 7, 9pm, June 8, 12am and June 9, 4 am. 60 > minutes. > > > > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. 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