From: hal@finney.org
Date: Thu Sep 16 1999 - 15:54:04 MDT
Doug Jones, <random@qnet.com>, writes:
> There was a science fact article in Analog a coupla years back, in which it
> was suggested to build very tall "cooling towers" (~7000 m tall by 2000 m
> diameter) which would produce strong updrafts, including cloud formation
> and precipitation inside. The rain would be captured for potable water
> use, the winds tapped by turbines, and the sea surface for many km around
> cooled by evaporation, thus removing the power source for hurricanes.
How would the towers cool? Would they be painted white to reflect
sunlight, or is there some other effect? Takes a mighty big air
conditioner...
I ask because I have seen claims that towers would, in and of themselves,
produce cool air updrafts because as the air rises it expands, hence
it cools. However this does not work, because the same effects occur
in the atmosphere outside the towers, which is why mountains are cooler
than valleys. So I wonder if these cooling towers in Analog had some
other principle in mind.
Hal
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