Using a fleet of 1500 wind - powered ship that cruise the ocean autonomously , spraying massive plumes of salinity water into the air travel , we could reverse the effects of global warming within years . So articulate John Latham , a research worker at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder , U.S. , who has worked with colleagues to develop a fairly extensive plan for reengineering the climate . How would salt pee spray lower the temperature of the ocean enough to make a difference ? Latham explicate that it ’s all about making cloud more reflective . When the saltiness spray gets taken up into the clouds , the salt crystals allow more drops of water system to form . And a cloud with more water in it can shine more sun . at long last , Latham hopes , this mean that less sunlight will reach Earth and allow the sea to cool down . If his plan were put into practice right out , it ’s possible we could prevent the Arctic ice sheet of paper from breaking up , and keep those jumbo methamphetamine hydrochloride ledge from crumbling in Antarctica . As the cooled ocean currents circulate throughout the world , global temperatures will lower too . allot to Physics World :
Latham maintain that his group ’s idea is not pie in the sky and that its feasibleness is stomach by two of the humanity ’s leading computer climate models , as well as recently obtained observational swarm data . He betoken out that , unlike rival techniques , the system of rules could be used to variegate the degree of cooling as required and could be switched off in a flash if needed . However , he adds more enquiry must be done to find out a figure of terra incognita – such as exactly what fraction of spray droplets will attain the cloud – and to establish that the proficiency would not make any harmful climatic side effects . More work must also be done on the spray technology , he state .
Before you get mad , futuristJamais Cascio , who writes a lot about geoengineering , has some words of warning :
A couple of really important cistron , deserving restrain in mind when evaluating these form of proposals : 1 ) Albedo - interchange geoengineering ( like the water atomiser , or stratospheric sulphate particles ) is a symptom - reduction treatment , not a cause - reduction discussion . This think of that if you block up the geoengineering — and you have n’t been reduce carbon copy outputs — all of the heat get back , and there ’s even a “ leaping ” upshot where it can get warmer faster than it would have otherwise . 2 ) Geoengineering of this sort does nothing about carbon , but excess carbon does more than just warm up the aviation . sea acidification is probably the biggest problem , make coral extinctions , diatom extinctions ( HUGE foodchain deduction ) , and similar nastiness . Geoengineering is utilitarian if it ’s coupled with carbon - reduction , since it can slow the onset of some of the warming - related catastrophe . It ’s not a curative or a solution for global warming , though . It ’s a cough - suppressant — can be ideal for letting you sleep and get rid of your flu , but can make the grippe peg around longer if all you do is habituate it to get through a body of work Clarence Day .
Cloud - Seeding Ships Could Combat Climate Change[via Physics World ] Thanks , Ethan !
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