Re:Massive permafrost thaw documented in Canada, portending ...
by oddity on Wednesday March 01, 2017 @07:36PM
(#13770244)
The common objection I've heard to geo-engineering projects is that they are incredibly difficult to reverse should the need present itself due to detrimental effects discovered part-way along. Does this objection still apply to the current popular proposals?
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Re:Massive permafrost thaw documented in Canada, portending ...
by rootusrootus on Wednesday March 01, 2017 @08:03PM
(#13770431)
I recall a proposal to put sulfate particles (I think!) in the upper atmosphere, sort of like what happens with a big volcano, to try cooling things off. The downside is you have to do it constantly, the upside is that if you don't, it fades relatively quickly. So we could try it out on a pretty large scale and stop if we don't like where things are going.
But that's from memory, and I could be recalling the details wrong.
Re:Massive permafrost thaw documented in Canada, portending ...
by imbeau on Wednesday March 01, 2017 @09:31PM
(#13770917)
A lot of that technology relies of aerosols which would exacerbate the ocean acidification process. Get engineering is really hard to get right
Re:Massive permafrost thaw documented in Canada, portending ...
by mirimir on Wednesday March 01, 2017 @11:20PM
(#13771387)
Yes, you need to get the SOX into the stratosphere, so it doesn't rain out so fast.
Re:Massive permafrost thaw documented in Canada, portending ...
by Itsdijital on Wednesday March 01, 2017 @11:41PM
(#13771476)
This is probably what we will end up doing because it is the only one that is really viable without insane energy/time requirements. Everything else proposed would require an engineering project many many orders of magnitude greater than anything humans have done before.