Geoengineering.

[benson111]

WASHINGTON – Tinkering with Earth's climate to chill runaway global warming — a radical idea once dismissed out of hand — is being discussed by the White House as a potential emergency option, the president's new science adviser said Wednesday.

That's because global warming is happening so rapidly, John Holdren told The Associated Press in his first interview since being confirmed last month.

The concept of using technology to purposely cool the climate is called geoengineering. One option raised by Holdren and proposed by a Nobel Prize-winning scientist includes shooting pollution particles into the upper atmosphere to reflect the sun's rays.

Using such an experimental measure is only being thought of as a last resort, Holdren said.

"It's got to be looked at," he said. "We don't have the luxury ... of ruling any approach off the table."

His concern is that the United States and other nations won't slow global warming fast enough and that several "tipping points" could be fast approaching. Once such milestones are reached, such as complete loss of summer sea ice in the Arctic, it increases chances of "really intolerable consequences," he said.

Twice in a half-hour interview, Holdren compared global warming to being "in a car with bad brakes driving toward a cliff in the fog."



My question to you, is should they?

[hawkofva]

Uh, let me think... pollute the air more to try to save ourselves from the effect of our... pollution...

Am I the only one who doesn't think that's bat**** crazy?

[CHK10063764]

We do not know the long term effects that it will have on the environment so NO. It is the same reason why we should reject GMOs.

[benson111]

I agree, the long term effects could be devistating, UNLESS, they use a material that has a shelf life of a relitivly short term, that would degrade at a pre set limit, then it could possibly work.

[hawkofva]

They won't stop it. You can't stop it. Climate change is a fact of life on Earth. What we can do is limit our impact. We are making it worse, but instead of trying something as ******ed as fixing pollution with more pollution, perhaps we should just stop polluting the ****ing planet and let it fix itself.

[benson111]

They won't stop it. You can't stop it. Climate change is a fact of life on Earth. What we can do is limit our impact. We are making it worse, but instead of trying something as ******ed as fixing pollution with more pollution, perhaps we should just stop polluting the ****ing planet and let it fix itself.

Yes. This is good in theory, however not all "Developing" Nations think in the same way as we do. This is also the next step in human evolution, "Controling" our environment. As much as i agree to the fact that we need to control our polution, the fact of the matter is, we also need a contingincy plan. Once the polar ice caps are gone, thats it, our envoronment will spiral so quickly we will not be able to keep up.

Another solution that is being tossed around is creating a white blanket that could be streatched acroos the polls to help reflect the sun in those areas, in effect creating our own polar caps that would begin to freeze again. therfore stablizing the atmosphere. Another sound idea, in theory.

[trench762]

wow, this is what scientists are getting paid for? I could come up with an equally dumb theory, How about we put some ice cubes in the water, o wait that's the current solution, umm I know, how about we build a giant freezer at the ice caps to control the temperature.

[SonicRocker15X]

wow, this is what scientists are getting paid for? I could come up with an equally dumb theory, How about we put some ice cubes in the water, o wait that's the current solution, umm I know, how about we build a giant freezer at the ice caps to control the temperature.

No, let's signal Superman by taking the magic drugs, he might have an idea!

Honestly though I think they were high. "Let's solve the pollution by using more pollution!"

[TheClashTheClashTheClash]

It was just in 30s yesterday in Texas in April...and how do you say Global Warming is moving fast?

[hawkofva]

It was just in 30s yesterday in Texas in April...and how do you say Global Warming is moving fast?
The planet is really quite good at regulating itself, and if we'd just stop ****ing with it things would be just dandy down here, but unfortunately you can't just walk into Uganda and tell them to stop burning coal. The temp increase is a big issue primarily at the poles, the rest of the world will see very little warming.

[benson111]

The planet is really quite good at regulating itself, and if we'd just stop ****ing with it things would be just dandy down here, but unfortunately you can't just walk into Uganda and tell them to stop burning coal. The temp increase is a big issue primarily at the poles, the rest of the world will see very little warming.

Until of cousre when the ice did melt away, and the ocean currents stopped flowing normal. and all the coast lines where flooded, and storks where out of control. Like i said in my above post, there are other ways of dealing with it, but, some think we are already past the tipping point.

[SonicRocker15X]

Until of cousre when the ice did melt away, and the ocean currents stopped flowing normal. and all the coast lines where flooded, and storks where out of control. Like i said in my above post, there are other ways of dealing with it, but, some think we are already past the tipping point.

Yeah, we're at the point of no return.
But in the same way, if we try to meddle with mother nature and change the Earth's climate we can screw ourselves even more.

[benson111]

Yes. This is good in theory, however not all "Developing" Nations think in the same way as we do. This is also the next step in human evolution, "Controling" our environment. As much as i agree to the fact that we need to control our polution, the fact of the matter is, we also need a contingincy plan. Once the polar ice caps are gone, thats it, our envoronment will spiral so quickly we will not be able to keep up.

Another solution that is being tossed around is creating a white blanket that could be streatched acroos the polls to help reflect the sun in those areas, in effect creating our own polar caps that would begin to freeze again. therfore stablizing the atmosphere. Another sound idea, in theory.

just in case it was missed.

[hawkofva]

The planet has been far worse off than it is now and recovered. Carbon Dioxide levels were 12x higher in the Cretaceous Period and the planet was still livable. Things may get screwed up, but we'll live. It's what people do best.