Scientists have proposed a potential way to solve the climate crisis — to create a solar shield around the Earth from lunar dust, which will be launched into space with the help of a special gun.
The concept, which sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, was put forward by a team of astrophysicists in a study published Wednesday in PLOS Climate. Among the materials from which the shield could be composed, coal and sea salt were considered – they could “darken” the Sun by 2% or “remove” approximately 6 days of sunlight per year, thereby lowering the Earth’s temperature. However, lunar dust turned out to be the most ideal candidate because it has the right size and composition to effectively scatter sunlight.
Another advantage of moon dust as a component for a shield is that it would require much less energy to launch from the surface of the moon than for ground launches. However, the process still involves the extraction of 10 million tons of dust, which must be loaded into a powerful cannon and then fired from it. It is necessary to make such shots regularly, as the dust shield will dissipate. As The Guardian writes, a sudden stop in the cooling of the Earth can cause a process during which the planet will begin to heat up even faster.
The project is really incredibly expensive and logistically difficult. For its implementation, most likely, it will be necessary to place a new space station at the Lagrange point L1, which will ensure the rapid redirection of dust into orbit.
“The system will work like a finely tuned dimmer, protecting our planet,” says one of the researchers, Benjamin Bromley.
This is not the first proposal to use a physical object in space to cool the Earth, including a glass shield 2,000 kilometers long, trillions of spaceships with “umbrellas”, silicon bubbles and space mirrors.
The researchers also suggest stratospheric aerosol injections, sea lightening and thinning of cirrus clouds. However, such methods cause controversial reactions due to the possibility of negative effects on people, flora and fauna. Previously, the Biden administration announced that it was developing a 5-year plan for research into ways to cool the Earth, and some startups began to fight global warming on their own without any permits.
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Source: Techspot
