Slashdot Mirror


$200 Million Dollars a Year Could Reverse Climate Change, Says Wave Energy Pioneer (bbc.com)

dryriver writes: BBC Future reports on a geoengineering technique called "marine cloud brightening" that makes marine Stratocumulus clouds -- which currently reflect almost 30% of total Solar radiation back into space -- whiter, causing them to reflect more sunlight away from earth. Professor Stephen Salter of Edinburgh University, a well-known 1970s wave and tidal power pioneer, has designed an unmanned hydro-foil ship, computer-controlled and wind-powered, which pumps an ultra-fine mist of sea salt toward the cloud layer, causing it to turn white: "'Spraying about 10 cubic meters per second could undo all the [global warming] damage we've done to the world up until now,' Salter claims. And, he says, the annual cost would be less than the cost to host the annual UN Climate Conference -- between $100-$200 million each year. Salter calculates that a fleet of 300 of his autonomous ships could reduce global temperatures by 1.5C. He also believes that smaller fleets could be deployed to counter-act regional extreme weather events.

Hurricane seasons and El Nino, exacerbated by high sea temperatures, could be tamed by targeted cooling via marine cloud brightening. Salter boasts that 160 of his ships could 'moderate an El Nino event, and a few hundred [would] stop hurricanes.' The same could be done, he says, to protect large coral reefs such as the Great Barrier Reef, and even cool the polar regions to allow sea ice to return. So, what's the catch? Well, there's a very big catch indeed. The potential side-effects of solar geoengineering on the scale needed to slow hurricanes or cool global temperatures are not well understood. According to various theories, it could prompt droughts, flooding, and catastrophic crop failures. Another major concern is that geoengineering could be used as an excuse to slow down emissions reduction, meaning CO2 levels continue to rise and oceans continue to acidify -- which, of course, brings its own serious problems."

7 of 316 comments (clear)

  1. Look at the motive here by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 5, Funny

    Of course a guy named "Salter" is going to have a vested interest in spraying salt.

    1. Re:Look at the motive here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Super villian detected

    2. Re:Look at the motive here by AbRASiON · · Score: 3, Funny

      I "spray salt" almost daily and it just leaves me short of breath and one more sock to wash.

  2. But Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez... by CRB9000 · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...says it will take $92 trillion of social programs to reverse climate change. Oh, and we have get rid of farting cows.

  3. Re:OK Jeff Bezos by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Jeff Bezos give 1 billion dollars a year for climate change, even if you live a 100 more years you will never go broke! Problem solved!,

    That depends on how many times he gets divorced...

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  4. Re:Get a therapy then. by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 2, Funny

    Did it tip over like Guam almost did?

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  5. Re:this has been a pretty brutal winter. by h33t+l4x0r · · Score: 2, Funny

    I've been counting the number of polar bears in my back yard since the early 90's. They have shown no significant decline.

    But peer-reviewed journals won't accept my data and continue to claim it's anecdotal.

    Just more mainstream cuck liberal data scientists who won't consider data that conflicts with theirs just because I live free in the proud conservative state of Mississippi.