[Dave]

Watched this last night on TV & found it most inspiring but at the same time very frightening. Allowing man to play with the planet on such large scales could end in disaster

Five scientists and engineers are proposing five radical ideas on a major scale that could save the world from climate change disaster. Climate change is being felt the world over and, if global warming continues to increase, the effects could be catastrophic.

Incredible as some of these ideas may seem, the scientists proposing them are not cranks - they are among the most eminent scientists and engineers in the world.

Some ideas involve reducing the power of the sun and cooling the planet.

Professor Roger Angel from Arizona - the designer of the world's largest telescope - is proposing to put a giant glass sunshade in space which will deflect a small percentage of the sun's rays back into space.

Dutch Professor Paul Crutzen won the Nobel Prize for chemistry when he discovered the causes of the hole in the ozone layer.

His plan is to fire hundreds of rockets loaded with tons of sulphur into the stratosphere, creating a vast, but very thin, sunscreen of sulphur around the Earth.

British atmospheric physicist Professor John Latham and engineer Stephen Salter have designed a fleet of remote-controlled yachts.

These would pump fine particles of sea water into the clouds, increasing the thickness of the clouds and reflecting the sun's rays.

Others want to tackle the problem of excess carbon dioxide - the cause of global warming.

Sydney engineer Professor Ian Jones proposes to feed plankton - tiny plants and animals that live in the sea - with tons of fertiliser. This will make the plankton grow and absorb carbon dioxide from the air.

New York-based Professor Klaus Lackner has designed a machine to capture carbon dioxide.

His plan is to locate them across the globe where they would suck in carbon dioxide, turning it into a powder to be buried deep under the ocean in disused oil or gas fields.

[Rob Barron]

And these guys get to hold titles like 'Professor'? Sheesh, any O' level science kid can pick holes in these ideas. But hey, any of us could put our ideas down for massive scale ideas to reduce global warming. It is easy when you do not have to take into account the fact that the scheme would cost trillions of pounds or more man-hours of labour than could feasibly ever be utilised.

But hey, if they do make a huge pair of Foster Grant's for planet Earth, I suggest they position it over Australia.... shut them up going on about wall to wall sunshine all the time!

So, how about my idea.... come on, you know this makes sense....

We get all the tree-hugger scientists together and stick them all on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean (preferably one that has previously been used to test anthrax or similar) and then we won't have to listen to constant stories about how too much hairspray is killing our unborn children's children

Right, I'm now off to hibernate to avoid the flak for this posting.... it wasn't my fault, Dave and Steve made me do it, honest!

[Markulous]

Originally Posted by Rob Barron

....... I suggest they position it over Australia....... We get all the tree-hugger scientists together and stick them all on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean...........

Ahhh, that'll be my brother (environmental consultant) who lives in........... well, Australia!

Now should I be pleased or upset?

[Dabhand16]

I saw something on TV recently concerning the EU regs that all diesel fuel must have 5% palm oil to be more environmentally friendly in emissions.

Problem being is that will reduce Europe's emissions by about 0.001%, but Indonesia has cut down their rain forest and drained boglands to plant - palm trees, to sell to the fuel companies for the EU fuel. This has resulted in the CO2 emissions from that part of the world - 2% of the land area of the world - increasing their emissions by a staggering amount to 8% of worldwide emissions, the third most poluting country behind the USA and China in CO2 terms!

Still, at least the EU figure is down by 0.001%. It is not all bad news.

[fujitsu1522]

When and not if, when they bomb Iran, we will have more crap In the ozone, and the price of oil will go up, and It as been suggested that the leader of Iran will sink ships In the main shipping lanes, so nothing will get out, try moving sunken ships, In a War zone. plus the radio activity in the Air, due to Israels attacks on the Reactors of Iran...I hope to god this does not happen, but I think It will....