HURRICANE SUPPRESSION BY SEA SURFACE COOLING

Abstract

Hurricane intensification can be prevented by cooling critical areas of the sea surface. Deep cold water can be pumped up and distributed at the surface through long perforated fabric hoses. Water overlying the Gulf Coast continental shelf from Texas to the Florida Keys can be cooled by water pumped from 200-meter depth using electric power transmitted by sub-sea cables from the shore grid. Portions of the Gulf of Mexico's Loop Current and its warm-core eddies might be cooled by moored pumping stations powered by Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC).