Slashdot Mirror
A Sunshade In Space To Combat Global Warming
ultracool writes, "While the only permanent solution for human-driven global warming is developing renewable energy, a temporary hack to counteract possible abrupt climate change is to build a giant sunshade in space. The sunshade would be launched in small pieces by electromagnetic launchers, conventional chemical rockets being far too expensive. The sunshade could be developed and deployed in 25 years, would last about 50 years, and would reduce the amount of sunlight reaching Earth by 2% — enough to balance heating due to a doubling of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere." From the article: "The [trillions of] spacecraft would form a long, cylindrical cloud with a diameter about half that of Earth, and about 10 times longer... Sunlight passing through the 60,000-mile length of the cloud, pointing lengthwise between the Earth and the sun [at L-1], would be diverted away from our planet... The sunshade could be deployed by a total 20 electromagnetic launchers [collectively] launching a stack of [a million] fliers every 5 minutes for 10 years."
A tinfoil hat for the earth.
te be fair, how do you know the GP wasnt posting using lynx on his toaster, watch, llama or something? I mean, it *is* slashdot...
"goodbye and hello, as always" ~Prince Corwin, from Zelazny's Amber series
Looking at the picture in the article, it looks like they're planning to put 100 millions CDs in orbit to reflect the light.
If so, I think I have enough AOL CDs in my drawer for the mission to go ahead right now.
1. Create a massive array of booster rockets to push the earth into an orbit 2% further from the sun.
2. Rig up a massive solar panel to block out the sun. This solar panel will collect energy to power a 3000 mile square array of heat lamps. By using an addon heat lamp controller we could could control the heat output - or make it flash like disco lights! The project would be funded completely by periodically displaying advertising for sony or mcdonalds.
3. Deep drilling would enable us to plant a heatsink close to the earth's core. Attached to this heatsink would be massive heat pipe extending to the moon. As an added bonus the heat moving through the heat pipe could be used to push pellets of rubbish to the moon or create a perpetually powered train to the moon opening up space tourism. eventually the moon would be turned into a massive greenhouse.
4. More booster rockets. But even more massive this time enabling us to each an orbit behind mars. Then we vaporise mars creating a permanent dust shield.
5. The evaporative air conditoner. Position massive mile wide fans around antartica. It would make life a little more humid but it would just be like the caribbean all year round.
6. or just don't care about it at all. We'll all be dead by the time the earth is unlivable.. not my problem.
"But if they're going to do it, then why not make it photovoltaic and get some energy out of it."
They would either have to invent a way to transmit power wirelessly, or make the world's longest extension cord.