Read at : Google Alert / desertification

http://metrohippie.terapad.com/index.cfm?fa=contentNews.newsDetails&newsID=45551&from=list

Can science save the environment?

By Joshua Foss

As climate change has become an increasingly ‘hot topic’, there has been a lot of emphasis on cutting carbon emissions.  Countries across the world are stepping up to the plate and making substantial efforts to do their part.  New Zealand for example, is looking to be the world’s first carbon neutral country, an astonishing and inspiring feet.  Every developed country has joined the Kyoto Protocol, except the good ol’ stubborn US of A, which with 5% of the global population contributes 25% total CO2 pollution.  As scientists warn us that immediate action is imperative, are we doing enough to give us a fighting chance for the future? The idea of human induced climate change has been around for a good while, dating into the 1950’s and beyond.  Warnings over half a century years ago stated the exact same things we are hearing today… there’s been a lot of talk but really not much action.  With population and resource demands steadily rising and no end in site, is there hope for cutting carbon emissions alone, or should we start considering alternative options to stall the warming planet?
Well friends, there are people out there who feel that science and technology can offer legitimate options for solving this colossal issue… Geoengineering is the name, and deliberately modifying the Earth’s environment on a large scale is the game.  Obviously a controversial subject, playing God and all.

Recent attention has been given to geoengineer Paul Crutzen, a Nobel Prize laureate, who has come up with a new climate plan that could completely offset the greenhouse effect.  The Dutch meteorologist proposes that injecting 1 million tons of sulfur a year some 10 miles above the earth would reflect sunlight into space and reduce solar radiation reaching the earth’s surface…. whew, my fingers are tired!

The idea of using sulfur to combat global warming — which most scientists say will bring more floods, desertification, heatwaves and rising sea levels — is not new.  It’s been around for a while, but scientists continue to go back to it after noticing that large volcanic eruptions have similar cooling effects to Crutzen’s observations.  The 1991 eruption on Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines lowered temperatures around the world for two years… This ’stratospheric sulfur injection’ would be a quick fix to cooling the planet.

(continued)