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The cover story for October 2004, "Controlling Hurricanes," could not have been more timely, coming out as Florida suffered devastating visits from four major hurricanes.

Many readers drew hope from the possibility of either dissipating or diverting these storms. Others offered a slew of their own ideas on how to accomplish such a feat, whose success could be considered a step toward the ultimate accomplishment in humanity's age-old drive to tame the environment--controlling the weather. Yet many other readers expressed concern about the consequences. David Laden of Virginia Beach, Va., writes, "The rainfall from hurricanes can break droughts." Whereas Richard Foy of Redondo Beach, Calif., writes, "It is fascinating that you leave out the most effective way of controlling hurricanes--reducing global warming." Robert H. Myers of South Russell, Ohio, poses the question: "Are we truly so arrogant and stupid to think that altering these storms is a good thing? Once again, the technology of 'what we can do' has far outstripped the ethical concept of 'should we?'"

It’s Time to Stand Up for Science

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David M. Ewalt, Editor in Chief, Scientific American