It seems that desperate times call for desperate measures. Even somewhat weird measures.
The first stage of actively battling global warming is already in effect. Researches aboard the Weatherbird II are sailing the ocean, seeding it with 600 tons of granulated iron ore. The purpose? Iron is a key nutrient for plankton. The sea creatures apparently also consume a lot of CO2, but have been dying off. The
Enterprise's
Weatherbird II's three-year mission is to help boost the plankton population.
Other steps include manufacturing thousands of artificial trees - basically large CO2 filters - to supplement our existing vegetation, as well as infusing our stratosphere with sulfur dioxide, simulating volcanic eruptions, blocking some of the sun's rays. The real kicker to me is the plan to launch 16 trillion (yeah, that's their real figure) "refractive shields" into orbit to shade the earth, each one being three feet wide. Right. Oh, and these 16 trillion shields would refract... wait for it... 2 percent of the sun's rays. That certainly seems worth the effort and expense.
But in all seriousness, global warming is a real, serious, urgent problem. Any ideas on combating it are welcome and up for discussion at this point. So feel free to put your ideas in the comments. And your jokes.
[Source: Popular Mechanics via Instapundit]
The first stage of actively battling global warming is already in effect. Researches aboard the Weatherbird II are sailing the ocean, seeding it with 600 tons of granulated iron ore. The purpose? Iron is a key nutrient for plankton. The sea creatures apparently also consume a lot of CO2, but have been dying off. The
Other steps include manufacturing thousands of artificial trees - basically large CO2 filters - to supplement our existing vegetation, as well as infusing our stratosphere with sulfur dioxide, simulating volcanic eruptions, blocking some of the sun's rays. The real kicker to me is the plan to launch 16 trillion (yeah, that's their real figure) "refractive shields" into orbit to shade the earth, each one being three feet wide. Right. Oh, and these 16 trillion shields would refract... wait for it... 2 percent of the sun's rays. That certainly seems worth the effort and expense.
But in all seriousness, global warming is a real, serious, urgent problem. Any ideas on combating it are welcome and up for discussion at this point. So feel free to put your ideas in the comments. And your jokes.
[Source: Popular Mechanics via Instapundit]
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