This morning on 13 News Today I showed this picture during our quiz segment. This is a picture of a geoengineering spray vessel. It is a model of something scientists are thinking about creating to attempt to reverse the warming of our climate. This contraption would spray seawater into the atmosphere to add water molecules to the air. The increase in water molecules would cause cloud cover to increase by thickening and expanding. Some scientists believe that increasing cloud cover would raise the albedo of the earth and cause less sunlight to make it to the earth's surface. Although this may cause temperatures to cool in the short term, the side effects of adding this much sulfur to the atmosphere is unclear. Here is a link to one man's take as well as a link to many other articles: WunderBlog
6 comments:
Since a rise in global average temps will increase water vapor in the atmosphere anyway, why do we need to have this machine add even more water vapor? And water vapor is a more effective greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, right? It just seems strange to me that we'd be trying to add more H2O to the atmosphere.
Also, in your blog post, you said it would add sulfur to the atmosphere --was that a typo, or intentional? I know there is sulfur in sea water, so I wasn't sure.
Okay, having gone and read the article, I can't imagine any of those things working --they all require global cooperation, which I just can't see working any time soon, and HUGE amounts of money.
But I still don't really understand how sulfur in the atmosphere decreases the global average temp.
Speaking of global warming... I got in an argument with a teacher today because he said global warming is just a myth, and theres no scientific evidence to prove it. Some people are so ignorant.
So since I think global warming is a very hyped up non-reality that makes me ignorant? Pretty bold statement there. You should do your research and look at the facts before you make statements like that. There are plenty of scientists and meteorologists who think it's a myth.
I think the sulfur may have been a typo, although it is mentioned in the article.
Anyway, if I recall correctly, sulfur was thought to be at least partially responsible for a period of global cooling in the 1970s. During this time, there was a lot of sulfur being pumped into the atmosphere and it had a reflective effect. Of course, pollution standards were tightened and sulfur levels diminished. Sulfur has a much shorter residence time in the atmosphere than CO2, which is why the effects of an increase or decrease in sulfur levels has effects in a relatively short amount of time.
The climate change debate is a complicated one. Suffice it to say that there's still much that we don't know about both natural cycles and the effects of human influences. However, to say that there's no such thing as global warming is ridiculous. It's well documented that the globe has warmed. WHY it has warmed is what is important - and unclear.
A few of my professors at Iowa State have added climate research to their plate and have contributed to the most recent IPCC climate change report. They are thoroughly convinced that global warming is real and is a mix of human and natural influences, and will very likely become worse. They're not some yahoos that ignore stuff that doesn't jive with what they think - they readily admit that the climate change puzzle is an easy one to solve and that there is a lot of stuff they don't know or understand.
The only way that the question of what to do about climate change is going to get even close to being solved is if cooler heads from opposing viewpoints come together. The politicized stuff and "it's just a giant hoax!" and "there were lots of warm days last month so that means global warming is real" isn't going to help.
Okay, I'm off my soapbox now. :)
I agree with Justin. How climate change got to be political is only the work of politicians. We all need to find out the ins and outs of climate change so if there's a drastic effect we can all live with it.
Good post Adam! -ES
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