Posted on 07/27/2006 1:40:10 PM PDT by PDR
One way to curb global warming is to purposely shoot sulfur into the atmosphere, a scientists suggested today.
The burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. It also releases sulfur that cools the planet by reflecting solar radiation away from Earth.
Most researchers say the warming effect has been winning in recent decades.
Injecting sulfur into the second atmospheric layer closest to Earth would reflect more sunlight back to space and offset greenhouse gas warming, according to Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego.
Crutzen suggests carrying sulfur into the atmosphere via balloons and using artillery guns to release it, where the particles would stay for up to two years. The results could be seen in six months.
Nature does something like this naturally.
When Mount Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines in1991, millions of tons of sulfur was injected into the atmosphere, enhancing reflectivity and cooling the Earth’s surface by an average of 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit in the year following the eruption.
“Given the grossly disappointing international political response to the required greenhouse gas emissions, ... research on the feasibility and environmental consequences of climate engineering of the kind presented in this paper, which might need to be deployed in future, should not be tabooed,” Crutzen said.
This proposal is detailed in the August issue of the journal Climatic Change.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Why not just make giant mirrors to reflect it?...............
Who do you want in charge of deciding what the weather is going to be? Politicians?
Sulfur? Those downwind of coal fired powerplants that release sulfur complain of acid rain.......
Don't tamper with a good thing. It'll be cold this winter, don't worry. Call the Bunko squad on Glob. Warm. turn yer self in.
There are oceanographers who have proposed dumping tons of nitrate fertilizer into depleted parts of the ocean, such as reefs and fishing grounds. A small amount of nutrients goes a long way toward helping sea life.
If you put sulfur dioxide in the stratosphere it won't cause significant acid rain problems.
Nutrients on reefs are a bad idea; corals need clear, low-algae water to thrive. If the nutrients were dumped in the open ocean, productivity could increase for fishing grounds.
Yes we did, and if you ever visited Pittsburgh, PA in the 1970s you'd understand why.
The air reeked of sulfur. I prefer my air breathable.
And the planetary rotten egg smell should help to repel space aliens.
One good belch from a Mt. St. Helens or Krakatoa will pump plenty of sulfur into the atmosphere.
I'd trust Mother Nature over some of these scientists.
This guy could have done it by himself.
http://www.snopes.com/travel/airline/walters.asp
So in other words, if the earths atmosphere is our cars toilet, "Light a match dammit" LOL
would one good volcano do the same thing?? Didn't mt. pinatubo do the same thing?
Not a mirror, but a giant shade, was proposed in the 1990s.
I have invented a mirror-beanie. If all Americans would wear one when they are in the sun, we could reduce Global Warming. Do your part to save the Gaia, wear a mirror--or aluminum foil on your hat.
I'm bald. Don't need a mirror beanie..........
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