The New York Times reported that potential solutions to global warming are being proposed by “a small but growing number of astronomers and physicists…the equivalent of a giant beach umbrella floating in space.” ing.
The idea is to create a giant sunshade and send it to a distant point between Earth and the sun, blocking a small but important amount of solar radiation, enough to combat global warming. . Scientists calculated that blocking just under 2% of the sun's radiation would be enough to cool the Earth by 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) and keep it within a manageable climate range. doing. This idea has been on the periphery of discussions about climate change solutions for years. But as the climate crisis worsens, interest in sunshields is growing, and more researchers are proposing variations. There are even foundations dedicated to promoting solar shielding.
Recent research led by the University of Utah has looked at blowing dust deep into space, and a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is looking into creating shields made of “space bubbles.” Last summer, astronomer Istvan Zapdi of the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy published a paper suggesting tying a large solar shield to a reused asteroid. Now, scientists led by physics professor Yoram Rosen, director of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology Usher Space Institute, say they are ready to build a prototype shade to show that the idea works. There is.
To block the necessary amount of solar radiation, Rosen said, the shaded area would need to be about 1 million square miles, or roughly the size of Argentina. A shade this big would weigh at least 2.5 million tons, making it too heavy to launch into space, he said. Therefore, your project should include a series of small shades. Rather than completely blocking the sun's light, they would cast a slightly diffused shadow on Earth, he said. Rosen said his team is ready to design a 100-square-foot prototype shade and is seeking $10 million to $20 million in demonstration funding. “We can show the world, 'Look, we have a solution that works, take it and scale it to the size you need,'” he said…
Rosen said the team is still in the pre-design stage, but could launch a prototype within three years once funding is secured. He said a full-size version would cost trillions of dollars to produce (“a tab for the world, not just one country”), but that it would reduce global temperatures by 1.5 degrees Celsius within two years. I calculated it. “We at the Technion are not going to save the planet,” Rosen said. “But we're going to prove it's possible.”
