US Seeks to Weaken Hurricanes

The Department of Homeland Security is hoping that weather-altering techniques can lessen the devastation caused by hurricanes, the Daily Telegraph reports. A hurricane reduction program likely to begin in October will devote $64 million to efforts such as spreading tiny salt particles in the storms to drain them of much of their rain before they hit land.

Another idea is to place a layer of oil on the ocean in a storm’s path to cut evaporation from the sea, keeping the hurricane from getting too hot and thus more powerful. But weather’s mechanisms are poorly understood, and critics fear unintended consequences. (More disaster preparedness stories.)