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Space & Astronomy

'Space umbrella' could stop global warming

By T.K. Randall
April 28, 2016 · Comment icon 24 comments

Can we cool down the Earth by blocking out the sun ? Image Credit: NASA
Scientists have been exploring ambitious new ways to effectively cool, rather than to warm up the planet.
Global warming might seem like an unstoppable, irreversible process that can only be slowed down through a concerted global effort to cut carbon emissions and to stop polluting the atmosphere, but what if there was a way that we could actively put global warming in full reverse ?

For years scientists have been mulling over several geoengineering solutions to climate change, each designed to reverse the damage we are doing to the planet using modern technologies.

Some of these, such as pumping chemicals in to the atmosphere or exploding an enormous bomb to move the Earth further from the sun, can be pretty much discounted out-of-hand.
One idea however does have merit - that of a gigantic umbrella that could be deployed in space to block the sun over parts of the planet and slowly bring down global temperatures.

First devised by engineer James Early in 1989, the first version of this orbiting parasol was to be constructed from glass and built on the moon, while more recent suggestions have included an umbrella made from either a cloud of moon dust or a large array of 55,000 wire-mesh mirrors.

The most recent idea suggests creating an army of tiny robots that could be launched in to space and arranged together to produce a configurable umbrella that could be moved at any time.

Whether any of these plans will ever come to fruition however remains to be seen.

Source: BBC News | Comments (24)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #15 Posted by toast 8 years ago
Well,they already pump chemicals into the atmosphere called chemtrails. Yeah, chemtrails again, still the favorite lollipop of the uneducated conspiracy theorists. Strange, that until today there is not one single proof for chemtrailing, isnt it?
Comment icon #16 Posted by Harte 8 years ago
By example, this is stopgap. By definition, this means temporary substitute. We engineer a system that continues to reward illicit behavior. Consequential engineering would be that of modifying the behavior. Yet, I despair, that would equate to recognizing the value of integrity, foresight and altruism. Yes, and it's a huge waste of money and energy. Why not just give all of us parasols, and we all keep them open. Same thing, and those monsters responsible for global warming,. well, we could just deny them a parasol, couldn't we? Let 'em burn. Harte
Comment icon #17 Posted by pallidin 8 years ago
First of all this idea just won't happen. It's just an idea. Secondly it won't happen... Too expensive, too bizarre and, of course, too problematic.
Comment icon #18 Posted by Thorvir Hrothgaard 8 years ago
Reminds me of the giant sun blocking device in The Simpsons, "Who shot Mr. Burns?". When it comes to for gorebal warming, it's best to post silliness like this.
Comment icon #19 Posted by schroedingerscat 8 years ago
Back in the 1960's, a group of uber-rich George Soros types calling themselves the Club of Rome, published a report called 'The Limits to Growth', based on computer models created by a rabid environmentalist - computer scientist from MIT named Jay Forester, which predicted that by the year 2000, we would all be dead, or wishing we were. About this same time an entymologist named Paul Erlich confused human beings with butterflies and predicted that we would mindlessly breed ourselves to extinction, and a character named Jeremy Rifkin confused a physical quantity with a physical law in his book ... [More]
Comment icon #20 Posted by CJ1983 8 years ago
Back in the 1960's, a group of uber-rich George Soros types calling themselves the Club of Rome, published a report called 'The Limits to Growth', based on computer models created by a rabid environmentalist - computer scientist from MIT named Jay Forester, which predicted that by the year 2000, we would all be dead, or wishing we were. About this same time an entymologist named Paul Erlich confused human beings with butterflies and predicted that we would mindlessly breed ourselves to extinction, and a character named Jeremy Rifkin confused a physical quantity with a physical law in his book ... [More]
Comment icon #21 Posted by godnodog 8 years ago
actually, chemtrails have been proven. its well documented and theres plenty of photography of the systems in place. a theory implies that it isnt varifiable, yet chemtrails are quite varifiable. The truth is the truth whether you believe it or not. so do yourselves a favor and do some actual research on the subject. Please provide the links to a published scientific article, I admit I am not aware of any.
Comment icon #22 Posted by Doug1029 8 years ago
Reminds me of the giant sun blocking device in The Simpsons, "Who shot Mr. Burns?". I wonder if there might be a way to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, convert the carbon to some stable form and bury it. It would be energy-intensive and we couldn't use fossil fuels to generate that energy or we'd be defeating the purpose. Maybe we could use plants to capture the carbon, process them and bury the result. But we're already doing that. We turn trees into paper, print something on the paper and bury it in a landfill. If that's a dry and secure landfill, we could trap a lot of carbon. The Great Pla... [More]
Comment icon #23 Posted by Harte 8 years ago
So, it's a no-go on my parasols for everyone idea? Harte
Comment icon #24 Posted by ulinedit 8 years ago
I am intrigued by the initial idea of mirrors and wire mesh reflecting the sun a bit in another direction - does anyone else believe that this idea has the most potential?  I know woven wire mesh - usually bronze or copper Bronze or Copper Woven Wire Mesh are used to transfer electricity.  Under my roof shingles at home, I know the builder installed mesh under my shingles to melt any potential snow or ice that could damage the roof.   Would the mesh somehow store this energy and use it for something else?  A lot of work to be done, but they are onto something with that one.


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