I don’t think human psychology will allow a united approach to global warming. Too man people are too stupid, to egoistic or just in such a tight spot they can not afford being “climate-friendly”.
So I wonder if there are Mega-Projects available to stop global warming?
Some coming to mind:
Reflector mirror at Lagrange1 between Sun and Earth - even a 1.000.000km² mirror from ultrathin film would weigh 1000 tonnes at most.
Giant Air Scrubers and I mean giant. They would dwarf the pyramids and remove pullutants and CO² from the athmosphere.
In addition I think a originator principle should become common: Any nation not really trying to act clean should simply be burdened with massive tariff measures. Using modern technology it shouldn’t be too hard to find nations who polute the ocean unnececerrally.
Edit, it became reality:
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I think this is not the way.
It’s like with dental care. The solution is not to don’t care and think that someday technology will fix it. Instead you should brush regularly, don’t eat much sugar and visit the dentist now and then. It’s prevention.
We currently don’t have any technology that will save us and time is running out. Why bet on a tech wonder that needs to be mass ready in no time?
In my oppinion were are long beyond “brush your teeth.” - like the following (disgusting) picture shows: https://www.oralsurgeryofutah.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4985/2020/12/What-Health-Problems-Can-Result-in-Bad-Teeth.jpg?w=700
At that point you need to take drastic measurements. Because I tell you something: If you wait for all humans to become smart then you already have lost. If you though rely on some outstanding humans… that might work.
You are right on human psychology. The big problem with these mega proje ts is who will pay for them? Furthermore, what could try would stifle theor own economy to penalize another?
Well, if the EU and the US would put the money together then it would be enough. 1000 tons of mirror would be less than 20% of the yearlyx US defence budget and less than 40% of the yearly EU regenerative energby budget.
Even if the US and EU pony up the not insignificant amount of cash to do it, there’s still nothing that can put 1000t into orbit, let alone L1. And splitting it up into 100t segments isn’t a solution, since L1 is unstable. The segments will need power, thrusters, gyros, propellant and guidance for station-keeping, so there goes a large chunk of your mass budget. To compensate for that, you need more mirrors. And they need to be continuously replaced as they break down or run out of propellant.
actually solar wind and electric charging of the rotating foil should do the trick. The gravitational effects around L1 are miniscule. If you are e.g. 1km away from L1 then it is less than 0,001% of earths gravity. The touch of a butterfly could literaly move the mirror.
You might want to look up the law of unintended consequences.
The bigger the intervention, the bigger the potential unintended consequence.
By far the easiest solution to climate change is not emitting greenhouse gasses in the first place. It is still a monumental challenge but if we don’t do that, we’re just treating the symptoms not the cause
By far the easiest solution to climate change is not emitting greenhouse gasses in the first place.
Except that has already failed. We already have sent enough CO₂ into the atmosphere that global warming is already here. You can no longer solve the problem by just stopping greenhouse gas emissions. All serious solutions now involve some form of geoengineering. Either block out the sun or pull CO₂ out of the air, those are the only possible options.
There are a few YouTube videos out there where science communicators (one of them is Kyle Hill) do a few basic calculations on these projects and conclude that it’s impossible.
For example, the mirrors would need to be a swarm of satellites that are launched by hundreds of rockets every day for decades with no pauses.
actually I know that video and it was BS. HE was talking about a MASSIVE mirror. That one would reflect like 90% of incoming light. I am talking about a non-stabilized foil reflecting about 30-60% of incoming light. That is a lot easier to do and weights less than 2% of a full mirror. It would take 50 Ariana6 launches for the whole thing.
Reading through these comments is depressing and my only hope is that I will be dead before the droughts lead to food shortages that effect me. I like eating, I like eating good food, I like having good food available when I want it. I don’t like being hungry. I hope I’m dead before I have to deal with starvation. At least nuclear war would be quick.
Megaprojects are a pipe dream. We can’t even deal with a lowball pandemic together as a nation. What hope do we have of coming together as a world? Let alone for something that isn’t going to have immediate consequences slapping us in the face. We’re a pathetic society that can’t do anything good. All we do is consume. Mr. Smith was right, we’re a virus.
We’re heading for a post-apocalyptic sci-fi future, and all the horrible shit that goes along with it.
In a fucked up way, our only hope is if a mega power somehow dominates the world through some horrific war and consolidates power, while somehow avoiding nuclear war and then does a quick 180° straight into eco-fascism. That’s the glorious future we have to look forward to. Life under a global authoritarian regime with severe austerity measures to deal with global warming. People will starve, people will be executed. The horrors of Stalinism will be our reality, and it is the only thing that can save us from ourselves.
I fucking hope I die, because I wasn’t built for suffering.
We can’t even deal with a lowball pandemic together as a nation.
My nation got pretty well behind the pandemic procedures and we had an vaccine like six months after the outbreak.
Oh, btw, I think a Mega-Project would be a much more feasable approach to the problem than Eco-Stalinism.
