I congratulate the NY Times for printing an article about how to fight global warming via geoengineering.
In other words, global warming isn't the irrevocable disaster that anti-fossil fuel advocates make it out to be, but is correctible via engineering projects designed to either (1) reflect heat back into space; or (2) absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, such as by fertilizing ocean areas with iron to encourage algea growth.
The rapid industrialization of India and China, with a combined population of more than 2 billion, makes political solutions to limit fossil fuel use seem extremely unlikely. Mankind won't rest until every ounce of fossil fuel located on the planet has been converted to energy. Geoengineering, therefore, requires serious study.
Geoengineering seems more promising to me that reducing fossile fuel consumption but much less promising than improving nuclear or solar to the point that they are cheaper than coal could ever be and developing really good batteries. Both of those options seem achievable within a decade with serious effort.
Posted by: michael vassar | June 27, 2006 at 01:02 PM
Geoengineering seems like default a terrible idea.
Posted by: XC | June 27, 2006 at 08:08 PM
There are finite limits to how many roofs we can paint white and how much algea we can grow without screwing up the ecosystem.
Posted by: nil | June 28, 2006 at 02:41 PM
Start watching for headlines that are more optimistic, such as these:
GLOBAL WARMING REVERSED!
DIASTER AVERTED... EARTH SAVED!
MAN-MADE CLIMATE CHANGES... PERMANENTLY NULLIFIED!
Albert Einstein provided the perfect scientific answer to Global Warming in 1905 with his paradigm, mass-to-energy equation, which is the key to unlocking all of the clean, cheap, environmentally friendly energy the inhabitants of Earth will ever need, without any pollution or waste stream, and with no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse emissions.
Even the super-powerful Energy Cartel will be unable to prevent millions of individuals around the World from freely switching to this abundant and everlasting Einsteinian cornucopia of "home-made energy," which will automatically reestablish Mother Nature as the exclusive controller of climate change.
http://slow-motion-Thermonuclear.blogspot.com/2006/06/invention-for-sale-slow-motion.html
Posted by: ROBERT MACELVAIN | July 16, 2006 at 09:14 AM