These people are nuts................
Posted on 09/02/2011 7:43:41 AM PDT by Red Badger
In what to some might seem almost ludicrous, (think Dr. Stranglove,) a British team of geo-engineers are set to launch a giant balloon a half mile into the sky pulling with it a water hose that will then spray water pumped from the ground, into the air. But this is only the beginning; the idea is to see if such a system is feasible. The real goal is to see if it might be possible to send such a giant balloon much higher, say twice as high as airplanes fly, so as to release aerosols into the atmosphere to mimic the impact volcanoes have when they erupt. That is to cause a planetary cooling effect, to offset the warming effect of all the carbon emissions still being pumped full time into air. And that’s not all, the project dubbed Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering (SPICE), is being backed by the British government, via the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
Most would agree that we do have a problem on our hands, the Earth is slowly growing warmer, threatening water and food supplies, if not eventually our very existence. Many question however, the wisdom of pumping aerosols into the atmosphere to reflect some of the sun’s heat back into space, rather than simply figuring out a way to stop adding more carbon emissions.
The initial test of the plan is slated to be carried out next month in an undisclosed location. There the team will send up a smaller version of the eventual behemoth, somewhere around two thirds of a mile (about a kilometer) high. In this test, nothing but water will be squirted into the air, though some suggest they might also try something called low-level cloud whitening, which is where sea salt would be pumped up and then dispersed into the air to increase the reflectivity of clouds.
If successful, the team would then set to work in constructing the actual product, a balloon that some say would have to be as big as Wembley stadium and would weigh as much as several double-decker busses (this is a British project after all). Then, the balloon would be sent aloft to a height of twelve miles or so (20 kilometers) carrying with it something akin to a very long garden hose. Once up, a mixture of sulphates and/or aerosols would be pumped up the hose and then into the air, which would then, theoretically start reflecting heat back out into space; saving us all in the process.
If the mechanics of the project do eventually work as planned, there will likely be much debate about actually carrying out its mission, as some will undoubtedly be very much against carrying out a mission where no one really knows what might happen.
These people are nuts................
Geo-engineering to save us from AGW ping...................
What are they spraying, bong water?
Just watch, this will be the very thing that ends up destroying the earth!
Betcha.
Just wait until George Noory gets hold of this story.
Awwh man this bites.
You balloon-hosing RETARDS! Stop embarrassing us Brits on Free Republic!
Anyway: these fools should just re-use the gigantic balloons the people in the Medieval Warm Period used to cool the planet.
Or the equally massive balloons used by the Romans.
Or the one used by the Minoans. Why reinvent the wheel?
They should just tether the water hose to Al Gore...
...he’s a giant hot-air balloon.
What DUMBASSES!
Even if GW was a real threat, this is the EXACT OPPOSITE of what should be done, as the primary “greenhouse gas” in our atmosphere is WATER VAPOR!
The destruction of the earth is a Reserved Privilege,
and will be done quickly, by fire.
Good catch! This could actually be a useful technology - in ten years time when we’re all freezing.
Going to take a LOT of power to lift a column of water 1 km high. And you cant use light materials either due to the pressure. At 1 mile, the pressure is 2,400 psi.
I’m thinking you would be better to have two lines to the ballon and a crawler system where a “pod” lifts 1 gallon crawling up to the ballon and deposits it’s gallon into a small tank and then crawls down the other line back to the ship. The line can supply the support and the power. Mulitple crawlers can keep a supply of water up at the ballon.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to induce rainfall,
and it’s not a bad idea to desalinate sea water.
But the article has the usual doom about life on earth being totally destroyed by man-made global warming, etc.
Oh, granted.
A parody, right ? Please, God .... tell me it’s a parody.
Gee, what could possibly go wrong?
How do you keep the water from freezing on the way up?????..
Please don’t say “antifreeze”
Just give everyone on an airplane a bottle of water and then open the windows and pour the water out.
2.) When the water spray exits from the top it will freeze up the nozzle...
3). In any case the rate of flow through such a long water pipe is misiscule
4). Even if none of the above....the ambient temperature is so low the water will freeze
....>Most would agree that we do have a problem on our hands, the Earth is slowly growing warmer<.....
Most WHAT would agree? The problem we have is the loony left trying to tax every breath we take.
These closet intellectuals know as much about physics as Odumbass does about the Auto industry.
As mentioned above, the pumping pressures and requisite pipe mass makes this unworkable. Not to mention it will actually increase the atmosphere’s greenhouse effect if they somehow inject enough water vapor.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.