A Fast, Cheap and Scary Way to Cool the Planet

Re:A Fast, Cheap and Scary Way to Cool the Planet by goda90 on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @04:31PM (#23408295)

I think I saw a movie about this. They built a fast train that could survive the deep freeze by staying in motion.

But more seriously. Sunlight that hits the planet(and isn't reflected back out) is a different variable than solar heat that stays in the atmosphere. Our carbon levels are increasing the second variable. Trying to counteract that by lowering the first seems like it would have tons of unintended consequences.

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Re:A Fast, Cheap and Scary Way to Cool the Planet by pirsquare on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @04:46PM (#23408487)

I think the movie is Snowpiercer? Great movie by the way.

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Re:A Fast, Cheap and Scary Way to Cool the Planet by yellowapple on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @05:02PM (#23408706)

A few crackpot headcanonists believe it to be a grimdark sequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and given the evidence I find it hard to disagree.

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Re:A Fast, Cheap and Scary Way to Cool the Planet by cblackthornekc on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @05:17PM (#23408889)

It's also a TV show now as well.

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Re:A Fast, Cheap and Scary Way to Cool the Planet by gman83 on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @05:04PM (#23408727)

You mean the sequel to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory?

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Re:A Fast, Cheap and Scary Way to Cool the Planet by perfunctory on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @04:42PM (#23408444)

> Sunlight that hits the planet(and isn't reflected back out) is a different variable than solar heat that stays in the atmosphere

Solar heat that stays in the atmosphere originates from the sunlight that hits the planet and does get reflected.

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Re:A Fast, Cheap and Scary Way to Cool the Planet by goda90 on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @04:54PM (#23408593)

The greenhouse effect is trapping the heat, not the light. So sunlight hits the atmosphere, some reflects, some more reflects off of the surface and back out, and the rest is involved in various things that eventually results in heat. That heat can then radiate out, or be trapped. Our problem is the balance of heat radiating out vs being trapped is changing. If we jump right to stopping the sunlight in the first place, sure it'll reduce the amount of heat that is produced thereby reducing the amount of heat trapped in the atmosphere, but that's not the only thing we need to consider.

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