With sea ice quickly melting and CO2 emissions on the rise, current efforts to mitigate
the effects of climate change may not be enough. Instead, some scientists have been using
technology to create feasible large-scale solutions to help save the planet. Some of the
projects, which fall under the umbrella of “geoenginnering,” are reminiscent
of concepts found in science fiction novels, but some of them could eventually really save
the day.
David Keith
Professor David Keith explores the possibility of using weather manipulation to assist combating the problem of global warming.
(Video: TEDTalks)
Pseudo volcano Scientists including Professor David Keith of the University
of Calgary and Nobel prize-winning chemist Paul Crutzen of the Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry,
propose to recreate an environment similar to the aftermath of a volcanic eruption. By launching
sulphur into the stratosphere, a protective layer would blanket Earth, reflect the sun’s
rays and help the planet cool off.
Sun block It’s not as simple as applying SPF, but the concept of blocking
the sun’s rays
is similar. Physicist Lowell Wood of the University of Houston, suggests lodging a giant
screen of metallic reflectors in the stratosphere to divert the sun’s infrared rays.
Similarly, astronomer Roger Angel of the University of Arizona has a sunshade in mind, though
his comes in the shape of a cloud made up of tiny, thin, transparent computerized flying-saucer-like
objects to deflect the sun by a few degrees.
Cleaning cruise Imagine a fleet of yachts floating in the middle of the
ocean. The cabins have been replaced by several large smokestacks, the crew replaced by a
GPS system. No black smoke billows from the stacks, instead a fine saline mist sprays into
the air. The purpose of these special ships, according to engineering professor Stephen Salter,
University of Edinburgh, and physicist John Latham, University of Manchester, is to clean
the clouds. The saline solution would whiten low-altitude clouds, increase their reflectivity
and deflect solar rays back into space. Salter and Latham say a three percent increase in
cloud reflectivity could be enough to balance the world’s CO2 emissions.
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Turning carbon into stone
Scientists suggest capturing excess CO2 from the atmosphere and turning it into stone.
(Video: ScienceFriday)
Fake forests These massive towers wouldn’t be green and leafy, but
they would be able to absorb more CO2 than a real tree. The artificial trees, the brainchild
of Columbia University’s
Dr. Klaus Lackner, would look like giant flyswatters and filter CO2 out of the, turning it
into a liquid ready to be sequestered underground.
Carbon rocks What do you get when you mix carbon capture and storage with mineral carbonation?
A plan by David Goldberg, Taro Takahashi and Angela Slagle of Lamont-DohertyEarth
Observatory to transform carbon into stone. When CO2 is injected into porous deep-sea basalt,
a mineral reaction with the salt transforms the carbon into magnesium and calcium. These
two elements react again with the salt and carbonate to gradually become solid rock.
Ocean gardening Scientists at Climos, a San Francisco-based company researching
ocean fertilization, are planting iron dust in oceans to grow patches of phytoplankton. The
green growth soaks up CO2 during its 60-day life cycle. When the plankton dies, it sinks
to the bottom of the ocean, taking the carbon along with it to be stored for centuries.
What happened to the Beluga trapped in the ice was sad. The video made me feel terrible for these whales who are being killed because they can not get away. I know this was some time back but it is still a sad sight. I lived in the north when this was going on.
Submitted by Lori on Monday, October 06, 2008
Having lived in Grise Fiord the portion of the article "Sunlight 24-hour daylight from May to August 24-hour darkness from October to early February" is not correct. The last sun is seen Nov 3rd and then peeks over the horizon on Feb 11th. Between these dates there is about 10 days of twilight before total darkness sets in.
Submitted by George on Sunday, October 05, 2008
Lisa Gregoire has once again provided your readers with experiences of yet another adventure. She puts you right there along with her. Well done as usual.
Submitted by Paula Wallace on Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Stunning, beautiful photographs!
Submitted by Kelly Vandenberg on Tuesday, September 16, 2008
