Is geoengineering to stop global warming too risky? Even as diplomats gather in Lima this week to try to hammer out an international pact to slow the rise of planet-warming greenhouse gases, many are saying that action is too little, too late, and that simply curbing emissions wont be enough to halt a looming climate catastrophe. Thats why a small cadre of scientists are pressing harder for radical geoengineering solutions — such as spraying particles at high altitude to mimic the cooling effect of volcanoes, or tinkering with clouds to alter how they reflect solar radiation. In a just-published article in the prestigious scientific journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, geoengineering advocates discuss what would be the first series of field trials for what they term solar radiation management — that is, reducing the heating effect of the suns rays, without modifying the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. (This New Scientist article also describes their work.) Read more... More about Climate Change, Global Warming, Us World, and Climate Mashable Discovery News December 05, 2014 at 12:15PM
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 12:32:56 +0000