Using artificial trees, brightened clouds to cool down

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Climate change has become a very alarming issue that scientists have been forced to come up with a radical countermeasure: geo-engineering on a planetary scale. Ideas like creating artificial trees to absorb carbon dioxide or reflecting sunlight away from the planet are the ones that have received serious consideration. The issue has become so critical that Royal Society-Britain’s National Academy of Science is carefully studying and organizing a report on the feasibility of geo-engineering.

According to its chairman, Professor John Shepherd, the study aims to create a distinction between science and science fiction. It also aims to provide suggestions on considerable options.

As per data provided by the Met Office, global emissions of greenhouse gases are still rising by 2-3% a year. If this continues, normal world temperatures may increase by as much as 5.5 Celsius by 2100.

One of the methods considered is making clouds brighter especially the ones in the Pacific where the ocean temperature has great influence on the world’s climate. Brightened clouds help increase the sunlight reflected. This method may be good enough to prevent effects of global warming. To help carry out this plan, Edinburgh University Professor Stephen Salter is studying how ships could scatter droplets of seawater into the atmosphere where they could evaporate, leaving tiny salt crystals to rise on air currents into the clouds. These crystals would then serve as “nuclei” around which water vapor could condense and thus increase the reflective power of the clouds.

The head of climate change advice at the Met Office, Dr. Vicky Pope, stated that there is a need to understand the climate better in order to prevent inherent dangers. One sure way, according to climate scientist Prof. Tim Lenton, is by using technologies that can remove CO2 out of the atmosphere.

Another idea is to create plantations of fast-growing trees like willow and turn them into “biochar.” This takes place when the plants grow and develop by getting CO2 from the air and then converting it to wood. Basically, the idea would be to turn the wood into charcoal, using giant ovens. The burnt material would then be buried, ensuring that the carbon would never be leaked into the air.

However, as other experts would say, practicing geo-engineering would compromise the goal to have an economy that is carbon-neutral.

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