Keith and colleagues want to investigate putting aerosols, such as sulfur, into the atmosphere to chemically unlock the greenhouse effect and allow more of the sun's reflected heat to radiate back into space. "This brings up the question of who would make that decision," said Alan Robock of Rutgers University. And what temperature the world should be. "A ski slope operator and someone running a shipping company in the Arctic might have different opinions about what's the ideal temperature for the planet," NASA's administrator Michael Griffin told Discovery News in an interview last year. From an engineering standpoint, scientists have looked at a variety of systems to deliver the goods, including high-altitude aircraft, such the military's KC135 tankers used to refuel fighter jets, balloons, artillery, even a space elevator. Other options include lacing commercial airlines' jet fuel with sulfur-containing particles, though this likely would give rise to a host of new problems, including engine contamination and safety concerns. "No one has actually looked at what would happen if you tried to put these materials into the stratosphere," said Richard Turco, with the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of California in Los Angeles. Scientists disagreed on whether atmospheric seeding to change the climate could be successful on a regional level, or if any initiatives must be globally based to be effective. They were united, however, in calling for a focused research effort. "There's very little funded research (about) managing the risks of climate change," Keith said. Related Links: |
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