Giant engineering schemes to reflect sunlight or suck carbon dioxide from the air could be the only way to save the Earth from runaway global warming, according to a group of leading scientists. But they say that these schemes could have their own catastrophic consequences, such as disrupting rainfall patterns, and should be deployed only as a last resort if attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions fail.

The Royal Society, a fellowship of 1,400 of the world’s most eminent scientists, published a report yesterday on the feasibility and possible dangers of technologies for cooling down the Earth, known as geoengineering. The ideas include artificial trees that draw CO2 from the air and mimicking volcanoes by spraying sulphate particles a few miles above the Earth to deflect the Sun’s rays. The most far-fetched would would be to launch trillions of small mirrors into space to act as a sunshield.

A far cheaper solution would be a fleet of 1,500 ships that would suck up seawater and spray it out of tall funnels to create sun-reflecting clouds. However, the report said that these clouds could disrupt rainfall patterns and result in mass starvation in countries dependent on the monsoon.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Globalization • Science & Technology • * Economics, Politics • Energy, Natural Resources • * General Interest • Weather • * International News & Commentary • England / UK

1. AndrewA wrote: I thought scientists like this didn’t really exist outside of B sci-fi and horror movies. September 4, 11:55 pm | [comment link]

2. Jeffersonian wrote: How much better it would be to tax everyone until their eyeballs bleed.  Then the climate would be so much better, and people like global warming experts would have lots of money to fly to nice places for conferences where they all tell us how we need to hand over more money still. September 5, 12:42 am | [comment link]

3. Sick & Tired of Nuance wrote: “However, the report said that these clouds could disrupt rainfall patterns and result in mass starvation in countries dependent on the monsoon.” Yes, but that doesn’t matter to this type of person.  All that matters is that the intentions were good.  Look how well Johnson’s Great Society has worked out…and the war on poverty.  Gee, with a success track record like that, how can anyone doubt the current efforts at countering man made global warming…er…climate change…oh, what ever it is they want us to panic about this week. September 5, 11:49 am | [comment link]

4. Jeffersonian wrote: We owe a debt of gratitude to President Obama’s (former?) “green jobs czar” for explaining to us what the green agenda is all about. September 6, 1:39 am | [comment link]

5. Jeffersonian wrote: oops…LINK September 6, 1:40 am | [comment link]

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