| Phuket Heat Wave | ||
|---|---|---|
| Dates | July 2008 | |
| Areas affected | Phuket, Thailand and surrounding areas | |
The Phuket Heat Wave was a massive rise in temperature that took place in Southeast Asia in summer of 2008. It was named so for the city that experienced the most effect, the island of Phuket, Thailand. The heat wave was created by a failed weather experiment by the Vietnamese Liberation Army of the Grand Yarphese Republic, at a station in Ngàytrược Port. The action was the first spark that caused the Third Thai Invasion of Yarphei.
Background[]
The Yarphese weather control programme was set out in a series of goals. The test set for July 2008 was to release heavy amounts of heat over an area resulting in warm air rising and thus heavy rainfall occurring. The purpose was in order to test the possibility of literally flooding enemy camps, advances, or bases instantaneously during wartime.
The weather system was originally meant to be launched off the coast of Ngàytrược Port. A MQB array was set there to release reactive chemicals into the air. The plan was to launch a projectile and apply an electric spark via DM2. It would form a chain reaction which would create large amounts of heat near the tropopause. The heated air would cause superheated clouds to form, at around 88°. When raining on the ocean, the impact and heat on the ocean would cause large amounts of evaporation, to begin the chain reaction that would make rain unstoppable except through a coolant. This was to take place in the middle of the Andaman Sea, which was to be cleared for the experiment.
The plan was that the heat would subside by itself without intervention, and the environmental impact would be minimal due to the fact that most of the evaporation would take place on the water's surface, and the chemicals used in the air would be harmless. The system would be guided by normal monsoon winds to keep it over the ocean.
Failure[]
The first materials were launched over Ngachuak on 1 July 2008, and the spark cannon was initiated on 8 July. Due to inaccuracy of calculations of the location of the cloud of materials, the projectile containing the reactive materials travelled through the edge of the cloud rather than through the centre, as planned. This was discovered when the whole sky did not ignite with heat, but it only spread in a certain direction. When the reaction reached the centre of the materials, an explosion caused a rain of boiling water over Phuket. Most of it boiled while in the air, but the sight of explosions in the sky caused panic in Phuket.
Much of the boiled vapour caused a dramatic increase in temperature on Phuket's beaches. Temperatures surged as high as 55° in some areas, causing several cases of thermal shock and one case of death.
The Yarphese did not react to the problem immediately. Only when the Thai government demanded help did Yarphei respond. It sent air coolants into the air to stop the boiling-precipitating cycle. The expected result was for the air to cool and slowly dissolve. However, technicalities occurred. Normal monsoon winds reversed, bringing an occluded front composed of cold winds from northern Myanmar together with warm, southerly winds from the west The front remained stationary, and the exothermic clouds descended onto the city due to the loss of the pressure gradient.
Phuket experienced temperatures up to 42.9°, a record high in Southeast Asia. Only when normal monsoon winds resumed on 11 July did temperatures return to normal.
Effects[]
The heat wave was among the worst all time in the world. There were eight hundred recorded deaths in the city, mostly among the elderly. Tourism came to a standstill, and did not recover until later that year. Meanwhile, nearby farming in Yarphei and on other Thai islands experienced shortcomings.
Controversy[]
The political dispute that ensued caused worldwide controversy. During the heat wave, international powers questioned the right of Yarphei to experiment near other countries. Yarphei did not agree to participate in diplomatic discussion. A treaty in Hangzhou was commissioned in order to set rules about countries practicing weather control or any other large-scale tests. The International Court, however, ruled the treaty against international law.
Following the rejection of the treaty, the Thai government asked for funds, but was only endowed with a small amount of funds. Weakened from political struggle, the Thai government made the decision to invade Yarphei for the third time in a decade. The conflict that followed was the most disastrous in Yarphei before the 2010 Yarphese War.