Is a Parasol the Answer to Overheating a Small Blue Planet?

December 26, 2006 by mike.

Roger Angel of the University of Arizona has proposed a sun shade solution to global warming. This sun shade solution - actually lots and lots of 2 foot sun shades - a cloud of sun shades - is immediately a more attractive solution to global warming - just the heat issue - than deploying new chemicals like burnt sulfate into the upper atmosphere - because it does not tinker with the “notoriously complex” chemistry of the upper atmosphere.

And that’s the weakness of this kind of solution as well. It ignores the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere caused primarily by the rate that bipeds are burning fossil fuels down here at ground level.

Once you start recognizing the problem of the carbon overoload in the ocean, it crosses the minds of thoughtful bipeds that if and when we are smart enough to move away from burning fossil fuels, we might find that the sun shades are not only no longer necessary, but are contributing to a certain chill in the air.

Still, the sun shade is an interesting idea. Want to read more?

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Small Foot Print, Global Warming | Print | 1 Comment »