According to a Friday piece on Motherboard, a group of scientists gathered at a geoengineering conference. Two rather radical ideas were proposed to deal with global warming, a theory advanced that human caused CO2 emissions are causing the Earth’s temperatures to rise. The ideas are based on the use of space based lasers, similar to those that were once proposed by President Ronald Reagan as part of his SDI program to provide a shield against Soviet nuclear missile attack.
One idea is to use a space based laser to create clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere. The notion that lasers can create water droplets that in turn can form clouds has been tested in the laboratory. The formation of more clouds would help to reflex sunlight away from the Earth’s surface and thus cool the planet.
The other idea is to use lasers directly to blast greenhouse gases floating in the Earth’s atmosphere, thus eliminating them directly. This would constitute a brute force method of eliminating greenhouse gasses once they are emitted. One problem is that they might not be in sufficient concentrations to be dealt with effectively in this fashion.One idea is to use a space based laser to create clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere. The notion that lasers can create water droplets that in turn can form clouds has been tested in the laboratory. The formation of more clouds would help to reflex sunlight away from the Earth’s surface and thus cool the planet.
The other idea is to use lasers directly to blast greenhouse gases floating in the Earth’s atmosphere, thus eliminating them directly. This would constitute a brute force method of eliminating greenhouse gasses once they are emitted. One problem is that they might not be in sufficient concentrations to be dealt with effectively in this fashion.
examiner