Climate change: Scientists test radical ways to fix Earth's climate

[nitpicker]

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48069663

Climate change: Scientists test radical ways to fix Earth's climate

By Pallab Ghosh
Science correspondent, BBC News

4 hours ago

Scientists in Cambridge plan to set up a research centre to develop new ways to repair the Earth's climate. It will investigate radical approaches such as refreezing the Earth's poles and removing CO2 from the atmosphere.

The centre is being created because of fears that current approaches will not on their own stop dangerous and irreversible damage to the planet.
(snip)

The Centre for Climate Repair is part of the university's Carbon Neutral Futures Initiative, led by Dr Shuckburgh. It will bring together scientists and engineers with social scientists.
(snip)

One of the most promising ideas for refreezing the poles is to "brighten" the clouds above them. The idea is to pump seawater up to tall masts on uncrewed ships through very fine nozzles. This produces tiny particles of salt which are injected into the clouds, which makes them more widespread and reflective, and so cool the areas below them.

Another new approach is a variant of an idea called carbon capture and storage (CCS). CCS involves collecting carbon dioxide emissions from coal or gas fired power stations or steel plants and storing it underground.

Prof Peter Styring, of the University of Sheffield, is developing a carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) pilot scheme with Tata Steel in Port Talbot in South Wales which effectively recycles CO2. The scheme involves setting up a plant on-site which converts the firm's carbon emissions into fuel using the plant's waste heat, according to Prof Styring.

"We have a source of hydrogen, we have a source of carbon dioxide, we have a source of heat and we have a source of renewable electricity from the plant," he told BBC News. "We're going to harness all those and we're going to make synthetic fuels."
(snip)

[Loki Liesmith]

1. Geoengineering is the only hope I have anymore

[Duppers]

2. Same here.

That and drastic cuts in worldwide population rates.

[Loki Liesmith]

3. I don't see the latter happening

I think our most likely scenario, if we make geoengineering work, is a pretty unstable, ecologically impoverished world that survives disaster but does not thrive in any meaningful sense.

I used to have much higher hopes but we’re just not up to it.

[The_jackalope]

4. A drastic reduction in population, not "cuts"

"Cuts" implies humans can/will reduce population deliberately.

Ain't gonna happen.

But population will be reduced - either directly by Mother Nature or indirectly as people realize they can't afford to bring more mouths to a shrinking table.

[Duppers]

5. Dat's what I meant. 😊

Thanks!

[The_jackalope]

6. +1

[PETRUS]

7. A small fraction of the world population is the problem.

The average US citizen's consumption and waste production is nearly twice that of a European, and more than four times that of a Cuban.