The debate about whether or not the Earth is heating up is
over, and scientists are now figuring out what changes will
need to be made in the future, due to global warming.
Researchers say, "Many of these possible options are highly
speculative at present, and some may even appear to be
crazy."
Alex Kirby reports in bbcnews.com on a U.K. conference
where engineers discussed possible global warming solutions.
One is to "sequester" (store) carbon dioxide on the floor of
the oceans. The only problem with this is that an earthquake
could release all the stored carbon at one time, causing an
environmental catastrophe. Great quantities of methane
released from the ocean floor in the past, for unknown
reason, caused a major extinction in the past.
Another is to figure out how to clean
soot and
pollutants off glaciers and other ice covered surfaces, so that
they reflect heat back up into the atmosphere, rather than
absorb it. This will also slow down glacier melt. Europe will
cool down significantly if melting glaciers dilute the ocean
with freshwater, causing the gulf stream to no longer flow
north. This problem can be solved if glacier melt can
somehow be slowed down or if ocean currents can be
stabilized. One drastic way to control ocean currents would
be to cut a giant canal through Central America.
All the researchers agreed that reducing global greenhouse
gas emissions by around 50%, which may be needed to avoid
excessive climate change, will be very difficult, and could
require even larger cuts by developed countries. Developing
countries rely more heavily on higher emissions vehicles and
power plants and don't have the money to switch to new,
cleaner technology. And these aren't all small nations, either:
one of them is China, which has so many people that it can
alter the weather all by itself.
Researcher John Schellnhuber says, "?We must think about
unconventional strategies?because a back-of-envelope
calculation shows we're unlikely to do the job without them.
We may have missed the best time to intervene to protect
the climate. Kyoto will reduce global warming by less than a
tenth of a degree anyway. If it can be rescued, by then it
may mean we've lost another 10 years and are simply running
out of time."
To see what global warming may bring in the future,
click here.
Remember: Civilizations have overcome
major obstacles in the past.
For more information, click here.
