SA Article on Possibility of using SPSs to Control Hurricanes

Dear Space Folks,
To provide some background information: a necessary condition for hurricanes is warm oceans. Warm water evaporates, and makes the air lighter, which lowers the barometric pressure. From kinetic theory a water molecule in air takes as much room as an air molecule, but water has a molecular mass of 18 atomic mass units (AMU), 16 from oxygen and 2 from 2 hydrogen atoms. Dry air has a molecular mass of about 29, air being a mixture of mostly O2, 32 AMU, and nitrogen 2, 28 AMU. So warm moist air rises, creating a low pressure zone. Air flowing into that in the Northern Hemisphere circulates counter clockwise (looking down) from the coriolis effect, and if the winds are strong enough, giving a hurricane. The oceans east and south of Florida have been warmer than ever recorded before, one report says by ~ 5 degrees F. Call this global warming.
If Florida's recent string of four hurricanes is not evidence of global climate change, it certainly should give clear notice of what a little of that can bring, and hint at what more changes could be like. These four storms have really hurt agriculture and tourism in Florida, and according to an article in the local newspaper have damaged 20 % of the homes here. That 20% was after the 3rd storm, so one may expect more damage after the 4th.
To get the real effects of more global climate change, one should try and imagine what it would be like if Florida (or other areas) were to have 10, 20 or more such storms every year. That would destroy most of the houses of the types we have now every year. Then add beaches, boats, bridges, docks, etc. through the alphabet, and you may be able to see that Florida would probably have to be mostly abandon. There are lots of coastal areas on Earth which are not settled because of the prevalence of violent storms. Some are saying these storms are the first nibbles, maybe bites if your house was damaged, of the Kyoto Dragon, and they make some of us wonder if the US rejection of the Kyoto Accords by Bush was a good idea. And if the businesses which benefited from killing Kyoto will really benefit in the long run.
It is not clear yet how the Kennedy Space Center has come though these storms, but one can hope they will still be able to launch. Because if global climate change gets really bad, it may make space colonies, as well as SPS, seem like a reasonable alternative to living on Earth.
Jay Huebner, A Florida Professor