The idea of blocking sunlight and preventing climate change with a 'parasol' attached to an asteroid
The average global temperature has continued to rise over the past 100 years, and scientists are developing a variety of approaches to mitigate the effects of climate change. Istvan Sapdi, an astronomer at the University of Hawaii Institute of Astronomy, proposed an approach using a 'shade' to reduce the amount of sunlight hitting the earth.
Solar radiation management with a tethered sun shield | PNAS
Sun 'umbrella' tethered to asteroid might help mitigate climate change | University of Hawaiʻi System News
Sapdi is working on a field of research called 'Solar Radiation Management (SRM),' which reduces the amount of solar radiation absorbed by the Earth to mitigate the effects of climate change. This is a field that mainly aims to reduce the amount of solar radiation through an engineering approach, and two representative strategies are ``adding dust and chemical substances to the earth's atmosphere'' and ``using shades, etc.'' Suggested.
The strategy proposed by Mr. Sapdi this time is to tie moon dust and asteroids as 'weights' to the shade and deploy the shade around the earth.
Originally, the strategy of launching the shade into outer space had already been devised. The prevailing view was that the launch was not realistic because the size was too large.
Mr. Sapdi's strategy of 'using asteroids etc. as weights' is said to be able to lighten the shade by several orders of magnitude compared to existing strategies. However, with existing technology, the shade alone requires a weight of 35,000 tons, and it is inevitable that it will far exceed the carrying capacity of existing rockets, which can be up to dozens of tons. Still, the weight of 35,000 tons is only 1% of the total, and the remaining 99% is covered by dust and asteroids, so that a total of 3.5 million tons of shade can be stably installed in outer space. Mr. Sapdi is hopeful.
“Many people in Hawaii block the sun with umbrellas during the day,” Sapdi said. I was thinking,' he said. The SRM approach is sometimes criticized, but Mr. Sapdi pointed out that ``it has the potential to mitigate the impact of climate change,'' and suggested that all means should be investigated. .
by Marc R.
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