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Is Twisters Inspired By Real-Life Events? EXPLORED
In Twisters (2024), scientist Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar-Jones) aims to control tornadoes by removing moisture with absorbent polymers. Explore the intriguing premise and real-world tornado research!
Twisters, a 2024 sequel to the 1996 blockbuster Twister, revolves around a scientist's scientific dream which is, that Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is trying to remove moisture from a tornado by launching absorbent polymer material into it. It creates a compelling premise, transforming a natural phenomenon like a tornado into a movie monster that humans can control and overcome.
Twister had storm chasers studying tornadoes, but this time they confronted and killed them. This notion gets almost as much research as tornadoes. Over the years, researchers and the public have proposed different ways to stop tornadoes. None of them have worked, let alone been tested. Instead of trying to stop tornadoes, real-world resources would be better spent researching and implementing more practical solutions for saving lives and property.
Advances in Tornado research and the dream of control
Attempts at weather modification in the United States began in earnest in the 1940s, as government officials and researchers sought ways to tailor the weather to suit national needs. Their goals included improving flight safety, bringing moisture to drought-prone areas, and protecting crops. Others sought to utilize the weather for military purposes or to stop hurricanes before they reached the coast. In cloud seeding, researchers added agents like silver iodide to clouds to produce precipitation. Precipitation and large storm systems like hurricanes were the main topics of research and discussion, but tornado research also included speculation about weather control.
The National Severe Storms Project (established in 1960 and renamed the National Severe Storms Laboratory in 1961) was reportedly contacted by a civil engineer in 1961. The letter suggested using unmanned aircraft to “fly through the upper part of tornadoes” and launching napalm into tornadoes to increase the temperature and “cut off the tornado.” It was accompanied by a sketch of a tornado and a rocket trajectory proposal. A tiny house and a stick figure running away from the tornado were drawn by the author.
The plan didn't seem outlandish to officials. In a note attached to the proposal, one NSSP researcher wrote, "This sounds theoretically possible. However, guiding the missile could be difficult."
In the Cold War era, scientists were open to the possibility of harnessing the weather with enough research and technological expertise. According to historian Kristine Harper, "weather control efforts were part of the Cold War-era hubris that people could control nature after World War II."
Scientists are still trying to learn some of the most basic facts about tornadoes - how do they form? What is the speed of their wind? However, outspoken team members speculated to the press that tornado control would be a logical step in the future once they learned more.
Real-World challenges and shifts in research focus
It’s hard to blame anyone in the Great Plains for this wishful thinking, especially in 1965, when a series of tornadoes known as the Palm Sunday outbreak had devastated communities across multiple states, killing 271 people, injuring thousands, and causing 200 million dollars in damage (in 1965 dollars). Despite this, researchers were still far from understanding how tornadoes form, let alone stopping them.
There was a reluctance among many weather researchers to accept wide-scale weather modification. It was clear to them that the atmosphere was complex, and there was still much they didn't know about how slight changes in one area could affect weather elsewhere.
For more research funding, some atmospheric scientists used the language of tornado control in the 1970s to appeal to elected officials in the Great Plains. Tornado Intercept Project, the first scientific storm-chasing effort, was launched in 1972 by researchers at the National Severe Storms Laboratory.
In combination with chasers' ground observations and Doppler radar data, they made dramatic advances in understanding tornadoes. Anyways, scientists became increasingly aware of how complex tornadoes are as they studied them.
With the passing of the 1970s, faith in technological fixes and the funding that accompanied them began to wane. By the 1980s, official interest in weather modification and tornado control had faded. Apart from a lack of funding and bureaucracy, scientists also doubted that they could prevent a tornado shortly due to its complexity.
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