Guest guest Posted June 29, 2005 Report Share Posted June 29, 2005 .... " Deploying tiny spacecraft...at a mere 500 billion, tops> " . For what coverage? C. Clark > http://www.livescience.com/technology/050627_warming_solution.html > Space Ring Could Shade Earth and Stop Global > Warming > By Robert Roy Britt > Senior Writer > posted: 27 June 2005 > 02:14 pm ET > > > A wild idea to combat global warming suggests > creating an artificial ring of small particles or > spacecrafts around Earth to shade the tropics and > moderate climate extremes. > > There would be side effects, proponents admit. An > effective sunlight-scattering particle ring would > illuminate our night sky as much as the full Moon, > for example. > > And the price tag would knock the socks off even a > big-budget agency like NASA: $6 trillion to $200 > trillion for the particle approach. Deploying tiny > spacecraft would come at a relative bargain: a mere > $500 billion tops. > > But the idea, detailed today in the online version > of the journal Acta Astronautica, illustrates that > climate change can be battled with new technologies, > according to one scientist not involved in the new > work. > > Mimic a volcano > > All scientists agree that Earth gets warmer and > colder across the eons. A delicate and ever-changing > balance between solar radiation, cloud cover, and > heat-trapping greenhouse gases controls long-term > swings from ice ages to warmer conditions like > today. > Earth's Atmosphere > > > An illustration of the ring of particles or > spacecraft casting a shadow on equatorial Earth. To > keep the particles in place, gravitationally > significant shepherding spacecraft might be > employed. They would herd the particle much like > small moons keep Saturns rings in place. > > Credit: Star Technology and Research, Inc. > > Those who are often called experts admit to glaring > gaps in their knowledge of how all this works. A > study last month revealed that scientists can't pin > down one of the most critical keys: how much > sunlight our planet absorbs versus how much is > reflected back into space. > > Nonetheless, most scientists think our climate has > warmed significantly over the past century and will > grow warmer over the next hundred years. Various > studies claim the planet is destined to warm by > anywhere from 1 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit over the > next few centuries. Seas will rise dramatically, the > scenario goes, inundating coastal cities. But > another group of scientists argue that the > temperature data supporting a warming planet is not > firm and that projections, based on computer > modeling, might be wildly off the mark. > > Either way, perhaps our fate is more in our hands > than we might have imagined. > > " Reducing solar insolation by 1.6 percent should > overcome a 1.75 K [3 degrees Fahrenheit] temperature > rise, " contends a group led by Jerome Pearson, > president of Star Technology and Research, Inc. > " This might be accomplished by a variety of > terrestrial or space systems. " > > The power of scattering sunlight has been > illustrated naturally, the scientists note. Volcanic > eruptions, such as that of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991, > pumped aerosols into the atmosphere and cooled the > global climate by about a degree. Other researchers > have suggested such schemes as adding metallic dust > to smoke stacks, to flood the atmosphere and reflect > more sunlight back into space. > > In the newly outlined approach, reflective particles > might come from the mining of Earth, the Moon or > asteroids. They'd be put into orbit around the > equator. Alternately, tiny micro-spacecraft could be > deployed with reflective umbrellas. > > A ring created by a batch of either " shades the > tropics primarily, providing maximum effectiveness > in cooling the warmest parts of our planet, " the > scientists write. An early version of their idea was > presented but not widely noticed in 2002. > > Eccentric but reassuring > > Those researchers who don't buy the argument that > global warming is occurring at any significant rate > nor that humans are largely to blame may warm up > quickly to the new idea. > > Benny Peiser, a social anthropologist at Liverpool > John Moores University in the UK, tracks climate > research and the resulting media coverage. He's > among the small but vocal group that goes against > mainstream thought on the topic of global warming. > > " I don't think that the modest warming trend we are > currently experiencing poses any significant or > long-term threat, " Peiser told LiveScience. > " Nevertheless, what the paper does show quite > impressively is that our hyper-complex civilization > is theoretically and technologically capable of > dealing with any significant climate change we may > potentially face in the future. " > > Peiser also notes that the Kyoto Protocol, a global > agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, is > estimated to cost the world economy some $150 > billion a year. He also sees a broader rationale for > supporting the seemingly bizarre manner of managing > Earth's temperature budget. > > " I believe that this mindset, despite its apparent > eccentricity, is actually rather reassuring, " Peiser > said. " It provides concerned people with ample > evidence of the extraordinary human ingenuity that, > as so often in the past, has helped to overcome many > predicaments that were regarded as impenetrable in > previous times. " > > He also sees an ultimate big-picture reasoning to > look favorably on the notion of controlling Earth's > climate. > > " Whatever the cost and regardless of whether there > is any major risk due to global warming, " Peiser > said, " it would appear to me that such a space-based > infrastructure will evolve sooner or later, thus > forming additional stepping stones of our emerging > migration towards outer space. " > > Related Stories > > Top 10 Ways to Destroy Earth > Scientists Clueless over Sun's Effect on Earth > No Stopping it Now: Seas to Rise 4 Inches or More > this Century > Super Volcano Will Challenge Civilization, > Geologists Warn > Surprising Side Effects of Global Warming > > > > > Tired of spam? Mail has the best spam > protection around > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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