Global Warming Solution Proposal
posted by Andrea Webster on November 13th, 2007 Go to comments
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I’d like to share with all of you this video that a friend of mine recently found on You Tube. It is a proposal to solve the global climate change problem with fog. If you can’t see the video, click here.
The two men in the video have designed a boat that will shoot ocean spray into the atmosphere. As the spray rises, the water in the droplets evaporates, leaving behind a salt crystal. As the salt reaches the clouds, it attracts water vapor, which condenses onto the salt particle. The result is thicker and more reflective clouds.The idea is that these reflective clouds would act as mirrors and reflect sun rays away from the earth, ultimately cooling the planet.
The crazy part is the small amount of water it would take to use this method: “500 L of water per second each year,” says the man in the video. It would only take 50 ships to control the temperature of the entire planet!
Although this technology seems like a viable solution to cooling the planet, the proposal treats the symptoms rather than the cause of the problem. What about all of the carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide that enter the atmosphere day after day? If we were to implement this “solution,” humans would still have a high dependency on oil and would still need to treat the remaining symptoms of global warming.
That being said, I’m very glad to see that scientists are thinking about and coming up with solutions, regardless of their viability. I also think that the boats in this video are really cool looking!
November 15th, 2007 at 12:23 am
What would the increased cloud cover do to precipitaiton? Possibly increase rainfall and cause flooding as well as cooling the planet? Good idea to reflect more sunlight, but too many unknowns regarding effects on storms. And you’re right….the cause is not addressed at all and everyone would feel they wouldn’t have to cut carbon emissions.
I’ve also heard of a plan to put sulphur particles high in the atmosphere causing more sunlight reflection (dimming). This plan, too, doesn’t address the cause. No one seems to want to bite the bullet and cut back emissions.