4 votes

Solar geo-engineering: It won’t hurt a bit!

6 comments

  1. [3]
    Amarok
    Link
    Pish posh, sure we can. I share the concerns with atmosphere-based geoengineering solutions. There is no way at present to accurately model those systems and predict their effects, and there is no...

    “And there is no way to do what they modeled, as we cannot turn down the sun,” Robock said.

    Pish posh, sure we can.

    I share the concerns with atmosphere-based geoengineering solutions. There is no way at present to accurately model those systems and predict their effects, and there is no simple way to reverse them once released. The array solution sidesteps all of those risks.

    6 votes
    1. [2]
      crdpa
      Link Parent
      How do we keep this big parasol in perfect sync between the earth and the sun?

      How do we keep this big parasol in perfect sync between the earth and the sun?

      1. Amarok
        Link Parent
        It's capturing tens of terawatts of solar energy, so it's got a local renewable power source to use for propulsion. Honestly that's what makes the solar sail array the best candidate. The mirrors...

        It's capturing tens of terawatts of solar energy, so it's got a local renewable power source to use for propulsion. Honestly that's what makes the solar sail array the best candidate. The mirrors and debris/dust clouds others have proposed don't have that advantage.

  2. spctrvl
    Link
    Well it's no wonder that their model didn't find any regional risks when it apparently wasn't even a model of their proposal because it was easier to just simulate something else. I'm kind of...

    He questioned how the study used computer climate models—that is, its authors did not simulate solar geo-engineering by modeling volcanic aerosols in the high atmosphere. Instead, they told the computer model to reduce the strength of the sun’s rays, a sort of brute-force proxy for geo-engineering.

    Well it's no wonder that their model didn't find any regional risks when it apparently wasn't even a model of their proposal because it was easier to just simulate something else. I'm kind of surprised that that little fact hasn't crept its way in to all the recent news articles on this geoengineering study, considering that one of the main disadvantages of the aerosol method of solar geoengineering is that the aerosols get shifted around by atmospheric currents, leading to an uneven reduction in sunlight, and apparently this was just ignored.

    1 vote
  3. Neverland
    (edited )
    Link
    One thing that is often missed in these discussions is that at least one country is all for global warming: Russia. They will finally have ocean ports which are ice-free in the winter, among other...

    One thing that is often missed in these discussions is that at least one country is all for global warming: Russia. They will finally have ocean ports which are ice-free in the winter, among other factors. So wouldn’t this global solution be seen as a threat to Russia?

    Rinat Gizatullin, a spokesman for the Natural Resources Ministry, told the BBC: "We are not panicking. Global warming is not as catastrophic for us as it might be for some other countries. If anything, we'll be even better off. As the climate warms, more of Russia's territory will be freed up for agriculture and industry."

    https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-wants-global-warming-2009-7

    1 vote
  4. Levantus
    (edited )
    Link
    Thought this was a worthwhile read. It may be time to have a plan B in terms of climate change the way things have been going. Original paper discussed on Tildes here

    Thought this was a worthwhile read. It may be time to have a plan B in terms of climate change the way things have been going.
    Original paper discussed on Tildes here