Physicist: Massive walls could stop tornados
Sean Buckley:
A towering, 50-meter thick wall may sound like the fevered dream of isolationists bent on border control, but it just might be the solution to the midwest’s tornado problems. University of Drextel physicist Rongjia Tao reckons that a trio of 1,000-foot high, 165-foot “great walls” could mitigate the worst natural weather of Tornado Alley – a loosely defined area that spans several states with high tornado risk. Tao compared Tornado Alley to a geographically similar area in China and concluded that the midwest suffered from more tornados primarily because it doesn’t have east-west mountain ranges to weaken or block the weather patterns that form them. Now he’s proposing that we build some.
The project would surely cost billions and would probably look terrible-if built for that one purpose alone. But if it’s proven effective, it could save countless lives.
via VICE