Solar Geoengineering

A quick and easy way to stop global warming?

It would certainly be cheaper than carbon reduction, but it’s not clear if it would work, or what the other side effects might be. And of course, if it’s even necessary.

But if it really is a problem, schemes like this, or space-based ones, make a lot more sense than screwing up the global economy.

10 thoughts on “Solar Geoengineering”

  1. “…make a lot more sense than screwing up the global economy.”

    Unless that’s what you set out to do in the first place.

  2. They’d never be able to get away with intentionally spraying sulfuric acid into the atmosphere. Gaggles of people would blame every disease and cancer on it and sue sue sue. We have the anti-vaccination crowd for proof of that.

  3. Why not? New Space will need a new market after they run out of space tourists and the government always does over pay for the services it requires 🙂

  4. Oh, great–he wants to bring the next ice age even sooner!

    Seriously, he assumes the planet is warming, and that this is a bad thing, and we somehow have to “control” the climate process. There’s no way to test for unintended side effects until they have pumped tons of sulfuric acid into the atmosphere. Oooops!

  5. If we’re going to play with deliberate climate modification, I’d prefer something where we can localize the input, and quickly change direction if needed.

    1. Indeed. Which is one reason for preferring the idea of a few trillion orbital Mylar mirrors. Another reason is that to do the latter, one needs significant space presence.

      A slightly less controversial way of approaching greenhouse gas accumulation from another direction is the idea of dumping a few tons of fine iron filings into tropical ocean waters. There are quite a few places where iron is the limiting nutrient for phytoplankton growth. A side benefit of this is that the same areas would be better for fishing.

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