Hamblin 6
about the missile race of the early
1960s: "This wave of technological enthusiasm was darker,
because instead of coming on the tide of a war victory, it
came as a foreboding new competition."
wildcat ideas: we better do some research just in case it
works
North America if all Earth's ice melted
a 1958 report on the topic
ranked weather modifications as of more military
importance than hydrogen bombs or satellites
- melt polar
icecap with a nuclear bomb to drown New York
- cloud seeding
with pathogens
- the
hallucinogen LSD as a chemical weapon
- note the
spectrum of research-development-production-use: these
wild ideas are at the research stage
1960 NATO study of the future of war
- satellites made it possible to
collect global data
- rumors that the Soviets would dam
the Bering Strait to warm the climate, making
Siberia more agriculturally productive
- a 1962 study said melting the
icecaps was impractical, but triggering a tsunami or
altering the weather could be done
Philosophical issue: were humans to the
point of being able to equal the forces of nature
- Teller didn't think so, thought
effects would be short-lived
- nuclear bombs are more usable if
they don't have long-term effects
- was arguing against people who
feared radiation from tests
- alternative group of
researchers--there might be long-term effects we can use
as weapons
- the idea we have the power to change
earth systems is beginning to be accepted by both
environmentalists and military researchers
- Kennedy gave a speech to the
National Academy of Sciences in 1963 warning scientists to
avoid irreversible changes to the earth