Global Warming: The Orbital Solution

Subject: Global Warming: The Eclipse Solution


To those it concerns. Everyone!


This is to suggest a possible solution to the global warming problem.
I am a retired scientist but wonder what practical engineers think of this idea.
Maybe I am overlooking major or impossible obstacles?

By placing a thin film (The Eclipse) in orbit between the earth and sun we can cause some sunlight to be blocked from reaching the surface of the earth and ocean. The orbit must be near Geo-synchronous and move in the opposite direction of communication satellites. The synchronicity will cause the film to stay centered on the line that runs between the earth and the sun and thus block some of the sunlight that falls on the equator.

The amount of blockage can be regulated by the size of the film to just balance the effect of greenhouse gasses.

By a slight tilt in the orbit away from the equatorial plane and a slightly elliptical orbit it will be possible to avoid trying to occupy the same space as the communication satellites.

While expensive, the installation of the Eclipse will cost a lot less then the damage from the melting of the polar ice caps.

Further, we will be able to continue to use fossil fuels. We can increase the extent of the solar blockage as necessary to compensate for rising CO2 levels.

James F. Dillworth
[email protected] and [email protected]

And teach plants to perform photosynthesis on smoke to compensate for the reduced sunlight in the affected regions?

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Originally Posted by dillyh

Subject: Global Warming: The Eclipse Solution

This is to suggest a possible solution to the global warming problem.

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Perhaps you better convince everyone that there really is a problem than needs that kind of attention first.

Sorry, missed that one, it's not real so go back to bed dear, everything is OK.
Besides, pollution is a good thing, let's kick that biodiversity thing's a$$, who needs it?
And remember, a closed mind is a small mind,
Nick

Ignoring the pro/con GW arguement the idea of a space based mirror or screen has been around for a while. Arthur C Clarke wrote about it shortly after he invented the idea of satellites in the 40's and 50's.

One problem; orbital mechanics. There is no earth orbit which will consistantly block or filter the daytime sun on the earth, or even a portion of it.

The only solution that works is to place the screen in orbit around the sun and positioned between earth and sun. Distances are such that the screen would have to be significantly beyound the moons orbit and the screen would need to be thousands of miles across to cover the earth. At that size, even with thin film, the mass and gravitational effects would want to twist it out of shape. Solar winds would want to push it out of position.

Socially what do you do about the people who do NOT want a solar screen?

I have read some of the suggestions for screens, blinds, whatever.

What bothers me is that the people who propose these ideas seem to think that it is actually feasible; that is scary.

Great idea dillyh.

Instead of blocking a little light from all of the globe, how about a small dense LCD-type shield that blocks all of the light over a much smaller area. An area roughly the size of Al Gore's estate in Tennessee.

You could get him to pay you to turn off the shield when he has cooled off sufficiently.

Multiple shields could be employed at other hotspots such as UN headquarters and Kyoto, Japan.

It would cost much less to do the same thing using wind power.

Using a thin film of mylar and two thin strips of wood, you could make a wind-powered solar reflector attached to the ground with a string. Economy of scale in mass production would make the cost reasonable, and on windy days all the government paid climatologists could be issued one and told to go out and fly it.

That should block an appreciable fraction of the sunlight reaching the surface while giving the climatologists something more useful to do for our money.

--97T--