I had to reprint this gem from the Readers Report section of the November 14, 2005, issue of BusinessWeek. Yes, this man is an idiot:
How To Stop A Hurricane In Its Tracks
Noting the various schemes you mention to “tame hurricanes” (”Herding hurricanes,” Science & Technology, Oct. 24), a simpler and more practical way to deprive hurricanes of energy would be to lower the surface water temperature: Dump several thousand tons of a cryogenic liquid (e.g., liquid oxygen at -297F, or even colder liquid nitrogen or liquid hydrogen) in advance of an approaching hurricane. The U.S. Air Force has some 500 KC-135 tankers, each with a payload of some 80,000 pounds. A dozen tankers converted to carry and drop a cryogenic fluid, each flying, say, five missions, could drop 2,000 tons in front of a hurricane, significantly lowering the surface temperature of the water in its path. Depriving an advancing hurricane of its energy would also avoid the legal and political problems that could result from methods designed just to divert its direction.
William Bailey
Oakton, Va.
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What? That sounds like a great idea!?
I think it makes just as much sense as preventing earthquakes by tying big rubber bands to all the fault lines.