The tangible fantasy: A perfect Storm unleashed at will

The tangible fantasy: A perfect Storm unleashed at will

By Nicolette Emmino

Walt Disney once said, “All cartoon characters and fables must be exaggeration caricatures. It is the very nature of fantasy and fable.” Although cartoons and comics are meant to represent fictional scenarios or unrealistic superheroes with outlandish powers, today’s developing technology is constantly proving comic exaggerations to be possibilities of the future.

Allow me to reference Storm, a Marvel comic character whose powers include weather manipulation. Storm first appeared in X-Men in 1975 with the ability to control the weather and fly at high speeds by creating extreme winds that can carry her weight.

How absurd this may sound to think that Storm’s powers could actually exist. Despite the bizarre nature of this proposition, scientists have and continue to study weather modification systems internationally.

Today, the most popular form of weather modification being developed is cloud seeding, a method in which an aircraft releases silver iodide crystals into a cloud, producing precipitation. The crystals can also be fired from the ground. In 2007, China experienced their first artificial snowfall over Tibet as a result of cloud seeding. Other countries such as the United States, Russia, and Australia have also experimented with this technology.

One country that has become accustomed to weather modification is Russia. Before Russia’s big holidays, Victory Day and City Day, the Russian government actually pays its air force to keep skies clear for spectators watching the parade. In 2009, Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov actually promised Russians a winter without snow. The cost was only 6 million dollars!

Some factors scientists must consider with regard to new technologies for influencing atmospheric conditions are necessity, safety, power consumption, and consistency.

Last year, scientists working on “Snowy Hydro,” a New South Walesbased project, reported a 14% snowfall increase over six years of experimentation.

However whimsical and tantalizing weather control may appear, even Storm had to deal with consequences of her powers. Storm could not just create weather conditions without causing harm elsewhere. For example, if she created a terrible rain shower, she would have to use all surrounding moisture in the area.

Those opposed to weather modification fear that disrupting nature’s elements may have negative consequences on future weather patterns.

In March 2005, Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson proposed the “Weather Modification Research and Technology Transfer Authorization Act of 2005.” The bill was proposed to further research for altering weather conditions using artificial methods. This bill never became a law, but research still exists.

NASA provided Dr. Ross Hoffman with funding for his weather modification research in 2001. Hoffman proposed a theory revealing the qualifications necessary to achieve optimal weather modification capabilities that could possibly even move hurricanes.

He discovered that further technological advances are necessary to attain such an ambitious goal.

He imagined a ring of satellites in orbit, directing the sun’s energy around the earth. His idea called for machines that would emit power to earth using microwaves at 183 GHz (a typical cellphone operates at 1.9 GHz). The production of these microwaves could also increase heat production in small areas of the atmosphere by 1 to 2 degrees, causing a major impact on the weather.

Yes, there’s work to be done on such a grandiose proposition, but in our world concerned with making fantasy tangible, maybe Storm isn’t such a fictional character after all.