Last month USA Today reported that Five U.S. Patent and Trade Office patent applications, made public on July 9, propose slowing hurricanes by pumping cold, deep-ocean water in their paths from barges. If issued, the patents offer 18 years of legal rights to the idea for Gates and co-inventors, including climate scientist Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

As a storm chaser I have witnessed (several times) the catastropic damage that hurricanes cause to our nation’s coastal regions and the lives they disrupt. Most people would believe that after witnessing just a few things that my friends and I have, that we would be all for any attempt to reduce the amount of force that a hurricane can use against us, as humans. But nothing could be further from the truth.

The very notion that man can alter the development of a hurricane is only eclipsed by the naive notion that he should. The earth is a dynamic frenzy of wondrous events. Some of these events are dangerous to humans, such as hurricanes. However, even the destructive forces of the earth are still critical to its existence and natural path. Without them, the earth would be a stagnant ball drifting in a near vacuum.

Hurricanes are a natural force of earth that release energy and balance life. If we go charging in to shut off this release because it isn’t convenient to man, we are destined to be punished by an equivalent or larger release of energy in an unknown way as compensation.

Natural phenomena are crucial to the natural balance of earth and should not be disturbed for the benefit of man. Mother Nature will remind us with a heavy hand that we answer to her.

Frankly, I am surprised at this attempt by Mr. Gates to disturb earth’s natural forces. Leaving Mother Nature to her own patterns and focusing on ways to minimize the human catastrophe by preparation and education are the best uses of resources.

I sincerely hope that the patent office rejects Mr. Gates’ patent ideas and that he comes to his senses very quickly about playing around with the natural processes of our planet.

Article by USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/weather/research/2009-07-15-gates-hurricanes_N.htm

Tags: hurricane, news, oddbeats