Six Degrees Could Change the World

OverviewOverviewVideoVideoPhotosPhotosInteractiveInteractiveSix Degrees: The BookSix Degrees: The BookStopping The Mercury's RiseStopping The Mercury's RiseSimulating Volcanic EruptionsSimulating Volcanic EruptionsLenses In SpaceLenses In SpaceReplanting ForestsReplanting ForestsSeeding The Oceans With IronSeeding The Oceans With IronTurning Pollution Into Baking SodaTurning Pollution Into Baking SodaCreating Artificial WeatherCreating Artificial WeatherDeserts And Islands Into MirrorsDeserts And Islands Into MirrorsSIX_HTML_solutions-6

Photo: Sunlight breaks through dark clouds over the ocean

Creating Artificial Weather

Based upon an idea conceived in 1990 by atmospheric physicist John Latham of the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, University of Edinburgh engineer Stephen Salter has proposed the most massive weather modification project ever. He would build and dispatch a $950 million fleet of 500 unmanned robotic wind-powered ships off the west coast of Africa and in the Pacific, west of Peru, places where low-lying stratocumulus clouds are abundant. The forward movement of the ships would turn underwater turbines attached to their hulls, generating enough electricity to create an electrostatic field, which would cause sea water sucked into the rotors to be sprayed in a fine mist that would carry tiny particles of salt into the clouds, increasing their density and whiteness and making them more reflective. By artificially increasing the estimated 40,000 tons of sea spray already whipped up into the atmosphere each second by a mere half ton, Salter says the sky would reflect 4 percent more solar energy back into space, offsetting global greenhouse gas emissions. An additional 500 ships would have to be deployed each year to keep pace with the rising amount of carbon that civilization is pumping into the atmosphere. One concern about this proposed idea is its potential to change weather patterns on land.

Themes

Featured Shows

Specials

Six Degrees Could Change the World

Themes

Featured Shows

Specials

Six Degrees Could Change the World

FAKE HIPPO

EXPLORE GALáPAGOS

FOSSIL HUNT