With natural disasters striking at the most unexpected of circumstances, many fingers are pointing toward climate change. Over the past few years, scientists have come up with radical and even seemingly crazy ways to fight global warming. Of course, the dire circumstances of global warming are alarming, so we really can’t blame them for thinking out of the box. When it comes to fighting climate change, the more ideas, the merrier!
Some of these creative solutions might appear rash and outlandish at first glance, but once you analyze the science behind the madness, you realize that they might actually work! Let’s explore some of these unconventional ideas below.
Planting Artificial Trees
Klaus Lackner, an engineering professor at the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at Arizona State University and Founding Director of the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, has invented an artificial tree designed to absorb carbon dioxide. This mechanical tree uses carbon-capture technology that can capture CO2 a thousand times faster than natural trees. Once completed, the tree will be 33 feet high and capable of quietly and efficiently absorbing carbon, much like a real tree. The technology is hoped to be scaled further so these tree farms can capture up to 1,000 tonnes of carbon daily!
Constructing Underwater Walls To Block Glaciers
When warm ocean water hits glaciers, it melts them away very quickly. So, some scientists have suggested building underwater walls to protect glaciers against warm waters. Of course, the size of the wall would depend on how large the glacier is. For instance, the Greenland Glacier would need a wall that is about three miles long and 350 feet high! Geoengineering glaciers this way could delay the amount of ground ice from reaching the sea, thereby buying valuable time to address global warming.
Wrap Greenland In Reflective Blankets
Greenland’s glaciers and huge ice sheets continue to melt rapidly, causing Earth to lose one of its strongest reflective surfaces. If allowed to continue, this could cause catastrophic consequences. This concern has caused glaciologists to propose covering Greenland in white polypropylene blankets to increase reflectivity.
Drop Tree Bombs By Using Drones
Planting forests as a solution against deforestation after wildfires and in areas that are not easy to reach is a splendid idea. Using drones to drop these “seed bombs” is a welcome option. Luckily, there is enough space on Earth to plant billions of trees, which has the potential to reduce atmospheric carbon levels by 25%. This idea was put to the test after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina when these seed bombs helped regenerate mangrove forests.
Force-Feed Blooms To Planktons
Planktons may be one of the smallest organisms in the ocean, but they are one of the biggest carbon sinks on Earth. As a group, planktons absorb carbon dioxide by the ton while also producing a great portion of oxygen on Earth. Consequently, some scientists have suggested placing wave-powered pumps on some swells of the Pacific Ocean. Doing so would force the nutrient-rich water in the colder ocean depth to combine with warmer surface waters, causing huge plankton swathes to bloom and absorb extra carbon dioxide.
Man-Made Volcanoes
This is perhaps one of the most controversial ideas, which suggests mimicking the effects of a volcano and using the atmospheric cooling effects of volcanic eruptions by attaching miles of garden hose to a helium balloon and pumping sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. Because sulfur dioxide can essentially block sunlight, it is believed that it could cool down the planet.
Cloud-making Ships
Low-flying, puffy clouds can reflect a lot of sunlight. Therefore, some scientists suggested making more of these clouds by installing a fleet of “cloud-making” ships. They say the ideal way to do this is by spraying seawater high up into the sky with the help of specialized ships made to patrol the oceans. It would take about 1,500 ships to carry out the job to increase cloud cover and cool the atmosphere!
Raise Cattle To Eat Garlic
Cows and other livestock release millions of tons of methane into the atmosphere yearly. Methane is a hazardous greenhouse gas that plays a huge part in global warming and accounts for over one million premature human deaths a year. To mitigate this, scientists have suggested feeding cattle garlic, which is known to kill the methane-produced bacteria in livestock. Garlic, which contains bioactive organosulfur compounds, cuts down on methane emissions and adds to the health benefits of meat consumers and dairy products from livestock as well.
Spray Arctic Ice With Glass
Summer Arctic sea ice is shrinking fast—at a rate of over 12% per decade. Therefore, spraying Arctic ice with glass is a highly innovative concept. The idea suggests spraying a thin HGM (Hollow Glass Microspheres) on top of the ice, hoping to enhance the ice’s ability to reflect radiation from the sun.
This thin layer of glass is expected to protect the younger ice below that is susceptible to melting. According to this hypothesis, this young ice could develop into mature and highly reflective multiyear ice. Doing so would give the world an additional decade or even more time to decarbonize before the serious and far worse impacts of climate change become irreversible.
Grow Algae In The Ocean
About one-third of the Earth’s carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean. But now, with a considerable increase in carbon dioxide emissions, scientists have discovered that seawater has become increasingly acidic and less effective at capturing carbon. This is why it’s hoped that algae can help to “calcify” the water. Scientists propose that this can be done by releasing enzymes that break down carbon dioxide into bicarbonate ions, which can then be used for calcification.
Final Thoughts
The ideas mentioned above are unconventional, and they are not something the common man can implement. But this does not mean that we are incapable of taking action. There are several actions we can undertake to reduce our carbon footprint and save the planet. From recycling more and using less energy to reducing product consumption and using greener modes of transport, we have to play our role in taking care of our planet and protecting it!
