Geo-Engineering - CLEARING THE CARBON OUT OF OUR SKY
by Michael Markrich
The problem of global warming is linked to the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. Each year the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere increases. The temperature rises and with every passing day the arctic sea ice melts and the worlds oceans rise. We are now said to be at 1 Celsius level above where the earth was during the industrial revolution and that this is already causing the melting of the arctic ice cap.
The answer scholars say is two fold; emissions reduction and carbon removal from the atmosphere.
There are several methods being taken to reduce the heat by building machines that can either remove (scrub) carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or and or take steps to block sunlight. Ideally both of these things are done at one time.
One technique involves planting billions of trees to suck carbon dioxide emissions out of the atmosphere and then remove them and the carbon dioxide they have absorbed. This is known as Bio-Energy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS). The trees are burned to produce electricity and the carbon dioxide scrubbed out of the air and injected into the earth so it turns to stone. Then more trees are planted, burned and the carbon placed underground.The process is repeated again and again until large amounts of carbon are removed from the atmosphere. Its carbon capture on a large scale. But the problem is so great that even this will likely not be enough.
Each time a volcano erupts and large amounts of sulfur particulates flow into up atmosphere the world cools. Scientist now call the process of cooling the world; solar radiation management. They want to do this now with airplanes in the upper stratosphere that would disburse billions of tons of sulfur into the air and cool the earth
According to the new book ‘Under a White Sky” by Elizabeth Kolbert, people are taking this
So seriously that Harvard University has committed $20 million dollars to the development of geo-engineering projects that do exactly this.
Instead of cloud seeding for rain, we would essentially be blocking the sun with our open air pollutants to block and reflect the sun’s rays. This would cool the earth.
If done correctly this would reduce the melting of arctic ice and make the earth livable again. We would all just have to get used to living under a white sky as people often do when volcanoes release ash in into the atmosphere.
