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Scientists Plan "Artificial Volcano" Climate Experiment

First time accepted submitter tonyt3 writes "Scientists plan on conducting an unusual climate experiment at a Norfolk airfield next month. They plan to spray water into the air about 20 km high to mimic volcanic particles, hoping that their findings could lead to a solution to global warming. From the article: 'Pouring 10 million tonnes of material into the stratosphere each using 10 to 20 giant balloons could achieve a 2C global drop in temperature, the scientists believe. Sulphate emissions from the Mount Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines in June 1991 reduced world temperature by 0.5C for two years.'"

5 of 292 comments (clear)

  1. Paging Dr. Bob, Paging Dr. Bob... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    ... please pick up the red courtesy phone when you manage to free one of your arms from the straightjacket.

  2. Man... by Fned · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...this totally blows away my papier-mache-and-baking-soda model.

    I bet those guys are going to win the Science Fair.

  3. Re:Not much air by jonadab · · Score: 1, Funny

    Even 20km is still well into the stratosphere. Water vapor is a MUCH more potent greenhouse gas than the carbon dioxide that has all the environmentalists' shorts in a bunch. (Yeah, I know, quantity is the issue, and the headline doesn't say exactly how much water they're planning to spray around up there.)

    Perhaps the more interesting question is, "Where can I get my hands on the technology to spray water that far?" Because that would be WAY more awesome than the water pistols we had when I was a kid.

    --
    Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
  4. Re:Not much air by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's possible, though unlikely, that you have a severe, severe, severe rage problem.

  5. Re:Climate physics fail. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    [[The scientists who have been studying this for decades know what they're talking about.]]

    I dunno - they may not have thought about something that some Slashdot commenter brings up.