Solar Geoengineering 'Only Option' to Cool Planet Within Years, UN Says

https://www.vice.com/en/article/3adxg3/solar-geoengineering-only-option-to-cool-planet-within-years-un-says

by gardenfelder • 3 years ago

11 4 3 years ago

vice.com

gardenfelder• 3 years ago

Full report:

https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/41903/...

sinuhe69• 3 years ago

Can we not build highly reflective super-thin space mirrors like solar sails to divert off a bit of solar radiation? It's much safer than intervene in our atmosphere.

locustmostest• 3 years ago

Yes. I agree with that.

I'm not a huge fan of atmospheric manipulation vs. orbital engineering. I think there's a weird mental block for many people where a massive earth-based project seems more feasible than doing something that is probably no more resource intensive off-planet.

Space-based solar is probably still years away because we would need to assemble in-situ on Earth trojans or other asteroids, and then propel the materials to the lagrange point. But backing off the global temperature ten to twenty years from now and gaining control over solar input to our planet seems like a better idea than messing with the atmosphere.

HellzStormer• 3 years ago

Lagrange L1 is basically the only place you can place something between Earth and the Sun without heavy maintenance costs to maintain the position.

L1 is at 1% of the distance from earth to the sun. This means that if you are going to put something reflective there, there is basically no benefit size-wise compared to doing it directly on earth. (Diagrams usually make it look like it's 1/3 of the way, which would have a 77% increase to the covered area).

Feels like it would be easier to put something reflective like that somewhere on earth instead, allowing for a much bigger coverage per $.

Solar Geoengineering 'Only Option' to Cool Planet Within Years, UN Says

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