Words Ria Rivera
It cannot be denied that the Earth is in pretty bad shape. After having gone through some significant changes caused by both natural and man-made sources, the atmosphere has deteriorated over the years. As such, the planet has been undergoing rather alarming climate changes that inadvertently affect the usual way of things. You may have noticed it yourself: summer in the country has bouts of rainfall, while during those months when rain should be pouring, sunny skies are constantly in sight. These unusual occurrences are but some of the many effects that come with the phenomenon called global warming. The main culprits for all these are greenhouse gases led by the notorious carbon dioxide (CO2). This is the reason most of the world's industrialized nations had already vowed to rein in their emissions of CO2 to help curtail global warming. However, a growing number of scientists and researchers believe in "geoengineering" Earth's climate.
For scientists like David Keith, a physicist and economist from the University of Calgary, the easiest way to counterbalance climate changes is by actively doing something instead of just refraining from producing more of the dangerous gases. He had been investigating strategies to prevent global warming for more than a decade now. Like him, many other physicists, oceanographers, and climatologists around the world are seriously considering technologies for the deliberate manipulation of the Earth's climate.
Geoengineering at work
Unknown to most people, one proposed technique is actually in use right now in what is called the "Opportunity City" in Weyburn, Saskatchewan in Canada. A steel pipeline 4,000 feet below the prairie at the edge of a 70-square-mile oil field is used by petroleum engineers in pumping 5,000 tons of pressurized, liquefied carbon dioxide every day. They use high-pressure CO2 to drive oil from the porous rock in the reservoir to the surface, while trapping the carbon dioxide underground. It is currently the world's largest carbon-sequestering operation, and it's dubbed as the Weyburn Project, an undertaking started in July 2000.The project is a partnership between EnCana, a Canadian oil and gas company, and Canada's Petroleum Technology Research Centre. It currently has US$13 million worth of funds from more than a dozen sponsors including the US Department of Energy, and engineers have already socked away six million tons of carbon dioxide.
This technology is definitely at work and is expected to store 25 million tons of carbon dioxide by 2033. Geologists also estimate that underground reservoirs and saline aquifers could store as much as 200,000 gigatons of carbon dioxide, which means that the Weyburn Project could indeed be a great success.
On the other hand, there are also concerns on the possibility of accidentally "depressurizing" an aquifer while probing for oil or natural gas. There's also the risk that carbon dioxide could escape slowly through natural fissures in subterranean rock and pool up in basements and cellars. This isn't exactly good news because even if you cannot smell or see it, carbon dioxide can kill you.
Looking into the near future
Other proposals include the construction of giant filters that would act like flypaper, trapping carbon dioxide molecules as they drift past in the wind. Dubbed as wind scrubbers, these devices are estimated to be completed in two years' time.
Another proposition involves fertilizing the ocean by dumping iron powder into the waters. The theory is that adding iron would cool the planet by triggering blooms of CO -consuming plankton. This study is led by oceanographer John Martin. However, researchers fear that huge plankton blooms will eventually devour other nutrients and make the oceans sterile in the long run.
Ways to keep away the sun
They say an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. This is why other researchers believe that the way to win the battle is to get to the bottom of the problem. In this case, it means finding ways to prevent the harmful rays of the sun from entering the Earth's atmosphere. Proposal number one involves enhancing clouds to reflect sunlight. By seeding clouds with tiny salt particles, more droplets will cling together, making the clouds whiter and therefore more reflective. These improved clouds would be like mirror for incoming solar radiation.
Speaking of mirrors, there are researchers who are intent on realizing an ambitious project that would use a giant space "mirror" positioned between the Earth and sun to intercept sunlight. Physicist Lowell Wood, a senior staff scientist at Lawrence Livermore, proposes using a mesh of very fine aluminum threads. The screen wouldn't actually block the light but would simply filter it so that some of the incoming infrared radiation would not reach the Earth's atmosphere.
Right now, the easiest way to battle global warming is still prevention. Everyone can do his part in curtailing the worsening of the Earth's climate change. But with passionate scientists and researchers who are bent on doing their part to change the planet's current predicament, there will always be hope for a better and cooler world.
