The grand “Geoengineering” seems about to begin. One wonders what this will bring us—is it a blessing or a curse? Regarding the issue of global warming, we need to reflect deeply.
Sina Tech News, August 10 (Beijing Time) — According to a report by The Times (UK), in response to the catastrophic problem of global warming, many scientists have proposed creative solutions to cool the Earth. A think tank in Copenhagen, Denmark, by comparing the costs and effectiveness of various schemes, believes that the “Cloud-Making Ship” project is highly feasible.
Within the next 25 years, with an experimental investment of only $9 billion, a fleet of 1,900 “cloud-making ships” could be deployed to the deep oceans. These ships would use seawater to generate clouds, cooling an increasingly warming Earth.
Various Cooling Schemes are Infeasible
Global warming has become one of the most concerning environmental issues for governments and scientists worldwide. Some believe the Earth has the capacity to “self-heal” from the damage of global warming, while others believe it will bring a series of unimaginable natural disasters to humanity. To save the planet and ourselves, scientists from various countries have conceived multiple solutions to the global warming problem.
Although many of these schemes are creative, most sound like the fantastical ideas from Jules Verne’s science fiction novels. They are often deemed infeasible due to excessive costs or impracticality. Examples include scattering iron powder into the ocean to absorb carbon dioxide, turning the Sahara Desert into a “reflective mirror,” creating a “sunshade” for Earth in space, building “jellyfish farms” to absorb carbon elements in the sea, covering Greenland with massive “blankets,” or slowly pushing the Earth further away from the Sun.
“Cloud-Making Ship” Plan Favored
However, the “Cloud-Making Ship” plan has gained favor from many organizations due to its relative economic efficiency. The Copenhagen Consensus Center, after researching the inputs and returns of various schemes, found this proposal to be the most feasible. The Copenhagen Consensus Center is a Danish think tank that advises governments on how to allocate aid funds.
The so-called “Cloud-Making Ship” plan involves distributing a fleet of 1,900 ships across the oceans. These ships would use wind energy to intake seawater and spray it into the air through tall chimneys to form massive white clouds. Research indicates that the whiter the clouds, the more sunlight they reflect, thereby reducing the heat radiated to Earth. These clouds could reflect 1% to 2% of the sunlight that warms the ocean, which is sufficient to offset the greenhouse effect caused by carbon dioxide emissions.
These ships would be unmanned and positioned by satellites based on real-time conditions to maximize cloud coverage. They would primarily operate in the Pacific Ocean, far from land, so as not to affect normal rainfall patterns.
Research by the Copenhagen Consensus Center found that the plan would cost $9 billion (£5.3 billion) for testing, which is only a small fraction of the $250 billion that major countries are considering for carbon dioxide reduction. Furthermore, it could be implemented in as little as 25 years. Currently, the Copenhagen Consensus Center has begun funding this project. It is expected that the Royal Society in the UK will also announce next month that the “Cloud-Making Ship” plan is one of the most promising creative ideas.
Mimicking Volcanic Eruptions Might Be Feasible
The Copenhagen research also focused on another design aimed at mimicking the effects of violent volcanic eruptions to cool the Earth for a year or longer. Historically, several large-scale volcanic eruptions have provided scientists with significant inspiration for saving humanity from climate disasters.
On June 15, 1991, Mount Pinatubo on Luzon Island in the Philippines erupted suddenly, ejecting a massive amount of volcanic ash into the air and obscuring the sun. This was one of the largest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century, claiming over 300 lives. At the time, 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide escaped into the uppermost layers of the atmosphere, covering the Earth like a haze and refracting sunlight back into space. In the following years, meteorologists were surprised to find that this eruption caused the Earth’s temperature to drop by 0.5 degrees Celsius, significantly curbing the pace of global warming.
In the century preceding the Pinatubo eruption, greenhouse gas emissions from human industrial production had already raised the Earth’s temperature by 1 degree Celsius. The eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815 led to even more dramatic results: 1816 was recorded in history as the “Year Without a Summer.”
Nobel Laureates Choose the Best Plan
Regarding other schemes proposed by scientists, the Copenhagen Consensus Center concluded they were infeasible after comparative research. For instance, using aerial refueling tankers in the Arctic to release particles or aerosols for cooling to protect the ice caps there. Copenhagen researchers concluded that this plan would cost $230 billion and would be much harder to control than the cloud-making ship plan. The cloud-making ship plan could be halted immediately if it were found to produce adverse effects.
Copenhagen researchers also deemed the space “sunshade” plan infeasible because it would cost a staggering $395 trillion. The space “sunshade” plan involves launching trillions of ultra-thin silicon mirrors into space to redirect sunlight. Professor Roger Angel, an astronomer at the University of Arizona, suggested that once these mirrors are sent into space, they could form a 100,000-square-mile space “sunshade,” reducing the sunlight reaching Earth by 2%.
Bjorn Lomborg, the director of the think tank, stated, “The space sunshade plan is essentially science fiction, but the cloud-making ship plan deserves serious scrutiny.” He noted that while global warming is a massive challenge for humanity, better responses can be found beyond just reducing carbon dioxide emissions. “We need to debate all options for dealing with global warming, not just discuss politically correct carbon reductions.” It is reported that Bjorn Lomborg will host a meeting in Washington, D.C., next week, where a panel of Nobel laureates will select the plan with the best cost-benefit ratio. (Reporting by Tang Ning)
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