US answer to global warming: smoke and giant space mirrors
January 27th, 2007 | Published in Current Events, Ecology, Consumerism | 1 Comment
I am left speechless and dumbfounded. I hope this is some kind of political prank. Note this is not the Onion — it’s the Guardian!
US answer to global warming: smoke and giant space mirrors
The US government wants the world’s scientists to develop technology to block sunlight as a last-ditch way to halt global warming, the Guardian has learned. It says research into techniques such as giant mirrors in space or reflective dust pumped into the atmosphere would be “important insurance” against rising emissions, and has lobbied for such a strategy to be recommended by a major UN report on climate change, the first part of which will be published on Friday….
Possible techniques include putting a giant screen into orbit, thousands of tiny, shiny balloons, or microscopic sulphate droplets pumped into the high atmosphere to mimic the cooling effects of a volcanic eruption. The IPCC draft said such ideas were “speculative, uncosted and with potential unknown side-effects”.
That is possibly the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard. It would be very expensive and who knows what the side effects could be. Maybe we should spend more time reducing our emissions, but no… let’s instead increase our emissions by creating crazy space mirrors. Genius.
March 25th, 2007 at 2:16 pm (#)
I love the faith in science that allows us to be complete hypocrites without accepting any responsibility for our consumer greed. I’m a scientist, but there is a time when the domination of global corporations force-feeding us guilt about our own miniscule contribution to the warming (but more power to the idea…everything helps!) without taking corporate responsibility for their own larger contribution.