An idea so bad, even Michael Mann realizes it’s a stinker.
Sprinkling large amounts of salt into the atmosphere could stave off climate change, a group of researchers has proposed.
They’ve suggested that, because salt is highly reflective, it could potentially reflect sunlight back into outer space, helping to cool the Earth, they wrote in a report presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas on March 21.
But other climate scientists aren’t so sure. This idea falls into the category of geoengineering — a deliberate, large-scale attempt to change the environment as a means to counteract climate change.
“It’s an interesting idea,” Michael Mann, a distinguished professor of meteorology at Penn State, told Live Science. But “most of these [geoengineering] schemes,though potentially appealing at the surface, are seen to be fraught with potential unintended consequences when you look at them in more detail.”
Salty idea
The salty proposal is more of a last-ditch effort that could be used to offset climate change, in case humans fail to significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions, such as those of carbon dioxide, that are contributing to Earth’s rising temperatures, Science magazine reported. The idea is to seed salt into the upper troposphere, the atmospheric layer most commercial airplanes fly over because of its weather conditions and clouds.
The idea was put forward, in part, by Robert Nelson, a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute, a nonprofit whose scientists study planetary systems, including the solar system.
Their proposal is hardly the first geoengineering idea out there. Other scientists have considered injecting tiny particles known as aerosols into the stratosphere, the region above the troposphere, as a way to cool the planet, Science magazine reported.
More at Livescience here
Here’s the study:
https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2018/pdf/1834.pdf
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I really don’t get this geoengineering fad – on the one hand we have activists screaming bloody murder that ‘we only have one planet you can’t mess it up’ – yet on the other hand they’re supportive of this kind of crocky scheme, the fallout of which is likely to be orders of magnitude greater than just ‘business as usual’
But what about the atmosphere’s blood pressure?
First thought is: was it April Fools Day?
Eventually humankind will control the climate. It’s either that or Wisconsin, Michigan, New York State, and most all of New England gets covered in ice again.
Fine salts small enough to stay in the atmosphere would be ultra-fine PM2.5 (particulate smaller than 2.5mm). This is currently the species in the agency’s crosshairs as public enemy.
These people would literally become the biggest polluters on the planet and do it deliberately.
PM 2.5 is 2.5 MICRONS, not mm
Sorry, mistype
Salting the upper troposphere would put gigantic amounts of chloride right up against the stratosphere. Solar radiation would convert that gigantic amount of chloride into giant amounts of chlorine.
That chlorine would probably destroy the ozone layer with a speed and efficiency unmatched by the CFCs we released.
In that story we have a prime example of green thinking, never seeing the consequences of their holy crusades.
But amazingly, at the same time, seeing dire consequences where there ARE NONE, like with adding a little extra CO2 to the atmosphere.
How does this idea get past those ready to wave the flag of the Precautionary Principle in everyone’s face?
During my youth at the height of the cold war, we were told about the dangers of a potential nuclear Holocaust with the understanding we should live in a constant state of fear and panic that Reagan would upset Moscow and start a war.
Aside from the radiation and intense heat from the actual blast, the big scare was surviving because of the starvation to follow due to nuclear winter.
Seems if greens are serious about cooling the planet, and population reduction, we should consider taunting North Korea into launching one of their misses at California, and then retaliate by turning North Korea into a radioactive glowing piece of glass.
The amount of material ejected into the atmosphere should be sufficient to reduce the incoming solar radiation enough to cool the planet without causing a full blown nuclear winter effect.
If we present this to the UN, and highlight that it is to save the planet from run away global warming, I think we can get the rest of the world to support us.
Thoughts?
‘heavy sarc’
“launching one of their misses at California”
Some of those Korean women are pretty cute.
Perhaps they can send some of them to the other states while they are at it.
Indeed, however, it was a typo that worked as a play on words for inaccurate misses.
Although hitting California wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing either.
You gotta love auto correct
missles
I’ve got a great idea: drink unbrellas – plane-loads of them dumped from high in the atmosphere, blocking sunlight on their long, meandering flight down. All different colors too, for that festive look. Then, kids or whoever wants to make some spare change could collect them for cash. It would be awesome sauce. Just put an umbrella tax on gasoline and oil, half-tax on NG, and double-tax on coal. “Problem” solved!
Argghh. Umbrellas, not unbrellas.
There is NOTHING I fear about climate change as much as what control freak, eco-loons will try and do about it.
I always think of this line from Stephen King’s ‘Misery’, while Annie was sawing the writer’s thumb off with a meat knife – for his own good:
“Annie was not swayed by pleas. Annie was not swayed by screams. Annie had the courage of her convictions.”
To reduce the fear of climate change we should, perhaps sprinkle the atmosphere with climate modellers, over the oceans to avoid a mess and so they deliver some real value to the eco syem in nutritional form, stop the grants of the sprinklees.. Climate will improve rapidly as fact takes over from prediction, as well as the saving in taxes. Win Win. Your solution may vary.
I like it! And if there’s any remains to clean up, they can make ’em into Soylent Green and feed it to the SJWs.
I’m sure I could Wiki it, but why is the ocean so salty ??
I think salting the atmosphere is a good idea. I have it on good authority that doing that will destroy the ozone layer. Sounds good!
Take the baghouses off of coal fired power plants and let the reflective ash fly, it’s good fertilizer and does not kill stuff like salt does
Worst idea ever. The Romans used to salt the earth when they were unable to control lands. Nothing would grow there and the people would have to move on. Dropping salt from the sky could only be conceived by morons.