Trump’s Long History of Scientifical Facts
A short guide to the president’s many misunderstandings of the planet we live on (and Mars)
President Donald Trump, a self-professed “stable genius,” has on several occasions suggested the use of nuclear bombs to stop hurricanes from making landfall in the United States, Axios reported on Sunday.
One such instance was recorded in a National Security Council memorandum. A summary of the president’s remarks is, well, disconcerting. “Why don’t we nuke them?” Trump asked, according to Axios. “They start forming off the coast of Africa, as they’re moving across the Atlantic, we drop a bomb inside the eye of the hurricane and it disrupts it.” (Trump has denied making this suggestion, calling the Axios report “FAKE NEWS.”)
Trump’s actually not the first guy to suggest nuking hurricanes. The idea was studied in the mid-20th century, but the proposal was shelved due to concerns about the potential for nuclear fallout and the huge cost of running tests. Indeed, as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) explained in its “Tropical Cyclone Myths Page” fact sheet, there is no chance nuclear bombs would actually stop the storm — a hurricane is simply stronger than a nuke. Plus, trade winds would likely spread radioactive fallout to land. “Needless to say,”…
