Government Wants To Spray Clouds With Seawater To Make Them Whiter

[matcom]

<snip>

THE British Government is examining a system for spraying seawater into the air to make clouds whiter. The idea is that they would reflect more radiation away from the earth and slow the world's rise in temperatures.

The technique, invented by Stephen Salter, emeritus professor of engineering design at Edinburgh University, would involve using a fleet of small boats to produce the fine spray.
As the water evaporated, tiny particles of salt would be carried into low-lying stratocumulus clouds by rising air currents. The salt would whiten the clouds, making them more reflective, and also create more water droplets, further reducing the amount of sunrays penetrating the atmosphere.

"The Government is aware of Professor Salter's ideas and we are currently considering them," a Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokesman said.

"It is important when dealing with potential solutions for climate change to think out of the box."

The research by Professor Salter, who invented one of the first devices to turn wavepower into electricity, will be published in the next edition of the journal Atmospheric Research.

He claims that by increasing the reflectivity of one-third of clouds around the world by 4.5 per cent he could prevent enough heat reaching the earth's surface to negate all the forecast effects of global climate change.
Professor Salter, who has collaborated with John Latham of the National Centre for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, believes a pilot project for his system could be operational within four years.

Initially 500 unmanned radio-controlled boats, costing pound stg. 1million ($2.348million) each, would be deployed off the west coast of Africa and west of Peru, where the lumpy stratocumulus clouds are most prevalent.

The 21m-tall vessels, placed 40km apart, would be tracked by satellite. The forward movement of the boats, driven by wind-powered rotors, would turn underwater turbines that would create a field of static electricity. Water sucked into the rotors would hit the electrostatic field, creating the fine mist of seawater.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,16259419-13762,00.html

[benburch]

1. What a fascinating idea.

Maybe we will find a techofix for this problem yet!

[hobbit709]

2. Then will it rain

salt water?

[benburch]

3. Very slightly so.

Which happens naturally after big storms. Hurricane rain is often slightly salty, but not enough that you can taste it.

[Rabrrrrrr]

4. Damn. The things the human mind is able to come up with.

I'd be worried about the salt in the air and in the clouds, but if it isn't much more than normal, probably not an issue.

But the last thing we need is a bunch of salty clouds pouring salt into the tropical forests and killing shit there in those delicate ecosystems.