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I know nothing significant about meteorology and definitely not a science guy so this will probably seem naive...

But today I am wondering if there is any existing science or methods a government (with enough funds) could employ, through science, to lessen the force of a hurricane?

I vaguely remember something about them being affected by air temperatures, so couldn't something be done to somehow inject heat or refrigeration into the area? Or something to counteract against it's speed increases?

What approaches would one consider in such an endeavor?

user2821
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GWR
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    Possible duplicate of https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/2541/how-much-energy-is-needed-to-alter-the-path-of-a-hurricane – jeffronicus Sep 06 '17 at 15:38
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    So I guess altering the path is just one approach. My question is, what approaches would be feasible today (and not exactly how one of those would work in detail) – GWR Sep 06 '17 at 15:40
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    Related question here: https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/45440/stopping-hurricanes-cyclones-with-liquid-nitrogen?noredirect=1#comment270272_45440 I have little doubt it's discussed, because solutions to 100 billion dollar problems should be discussed, but I don't think anything is close. – userLTK Sep 06 '17 at 21:01
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    I know someone once (perhaps jokingly) using a nuclear bomb to stop a hurricane. One concern is that you don't want the solution to do more harm than the hurricane itself. –  Sep 07 '17 at 15:10
  • I read about that. Issue was that it wouldn't come close to having enough effect, and the negative consequences could potentially be worse than the devastation of the hurricane itself – GWR Sep 07 '17 at 18:43
  • The Nuclear bomb is a bit of a hair-brain scheme, but I think the idea is to use the bomb to create wind sheer to end the tropical depression. It's theoretically possible (er, I think). One problem is, there's 100 tropical depressions a year and most of them don't become hurricanes. That's a whole lot of nukes to set off. – userLTK Sep 07 '17 at 23:49
  • Since cyclone formation and strength is related to sea-surface temperatures (Irma is currently crossing 30-degree C waters), I think your best bet would be to dramatically cool the surface of the ocean ahead of the storm. Unfortunately, the best way to do that is with a cyclone... – jeffronicus Sep 08 '17 at 15:40
  • I read that it's the temperature of the top 200 feet of the ocean that drives the Hurricane. 200 feet x dozens if not hundreds of square miles - probably not an option, even if circulated from below and not cooled, that's a huge volume of water http://www.atmo.arizona.edu/students/courselinks/fall15/atmo336/lectures/sec2/hurricanes_energetics.html Granted you wouldn't need to cool all 200 feet, but it's still a huge volume. (link says 200 meters, I'm sure I read 200 feet in the past - whichever, that's still a huge volume) – userLTK Sep 08 '17 at 21:24
  • @userLTK - they can throw icebergs from North Pole at the sea water. –  Sep 09 '17 at 06:02
  • @gansub LOL. That approach had never occurred to me, so, props. Towing (throwing?) iceburgs isn't easy though. They're bulking and they melt. – userLTK Sep 09 '17 at 08:11
  • @userLTK - The scale of the problem is so huge that I doubt humans can mitigate SSTs –  Sep 09 '17 at 09:45
  • @gansub I doubt it too. But it would be fun to calculate how large an iceburg might disrupt a tropical depression or small tropical storm. Then there's the problem of getting it there in time (tugging an iceberg isn't easy) and how much of it melts on the way. – userLTK Sep 09 '17 at 19:55
  • Possible duplicate of Could we cool the ocean by reflecting away sunlight to influence hurricanes? – daniel.heydebreck Sep 12 '17 at 07:52
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    Possible duplicate of How much energy is needed to alter the path of a hurricane? – 410 gone Sep 17 '17 at 11:08

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It might be possible but hasn't been done in practice

One idea is that smoke could be introduced into the hurricane and, because the smoke is heavier than air, the wind speeds could be reduced.

The smoke would also cause water vapour to condense at lower altitudes and hamper the heat cycle within a hurricane. When the water evaporates it carries with it the energy needed to heat it to that point. The water vapour is lighter than air and will rise but once it condenses it falls - releasing the energy it gained from rising (like if you pushed a ball up a hill), this energy adds to the air currents within the hurricane. If the water condenses at a lower altitude it doesn't have as much energy.

There are other ideas such as using fans to blow in cool air and seeding clouds with silver iodide (link makes for an interesting read but ultimately failed), these ideas may also have some potential but one of the problems with altering complex weather systems is that the side effects are not necessarily well understood. This makes carrying out practical tests difficult on both a moral and legal level.

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