Page 252 - James Rodger Fleming - Fixing the sky

lute stability, and indeed, since the system is untested, it might make things worse.
So is the answer to a known and increasing human influence on climate an ever
more elaborate system to control the climate? or should the person rocking the
boat just sit down? 28

Protection, Prevention, and Production

In 1930 Harvard geographer and meteorologist Robert DeCourcy Ward sorted
climate intervention strategies into three categories: (1) protection, which
is “perfectly passive”; (2) prevention, which is more proactive; and (3) produc-
29
tion, which is the most active and aggressive of the three. Today we might call
these approaches adaptation, mitigation, and intervention. Ward pointed out
that protection from the elements, which started in cave dwellings and tropical
huts, now involved heated buildings and, “more and more in the future,” build-
ings “artificially cooled during the heat of summer.” As in today’s discussions of
weather-related natural disasters, Ward cited increasing populations in areas vis-
ited by tropical cyclones and the need for “better methods of building,” coastal
setbacks “beyond the reach of the storm waves,” and seawalls and breakwaters for
coastal cities. For protection against tornadoes, “the most violent disturbances in
the atmosphere,” Ward recommended storm cellars and solid steel and concrete
buildings. For protection from electrical fields, he touted the Faraday “cage” and
the grounded lightning rod. High walls, narrow streets, and covered awnings tra-
ditionally provide shady relief in hot climates. Ward noted that in America by
1930, newly built arcades and department stores were providing shelter for shop-
pers, who tended to frequent them more and perhaps spend more money during
periods of inclement weather.
Prevention required more effort and more resources. Planting trees for wind-
breaks to protect crops and prevent soil erosion was a widespread practice in
Ward’s day. “Frost-fighting” involved regular observations, forecasts for agricul-
tural regions, and cooperative arrangements among farmers and fruit growers—
for example, by flooding the cranberry bogs or lighting smudge pots in orchards.
overall, however, Ward had very few successful examples of prevention on
which to draw. Fog dispersal worked on only a very small scale. The electrified
sand experiments of L. Francis Warren indicated that clouds could be modified
somewhat but not controlled, given the vast scale of the atmosphere.
For Ward the third stage, production, was “the most active and aggres-
sive” and also the least possible. Best known to him was the history of artificial
rainmaking—a history of promise and hype. James Espy’s theory of lighting

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