I have mentioned this in another article, but here goes this latest piece of climate change absurdity. István Szapudi, an astronomer from the University of Hawaiʻi wants to see a giant solar shield made of graphene which would be like a giant umbrella, put into space to block out part of the sun. Problem is no-one has solved the problem of how to get such an enormous object into space (or to build it in space, away even from the moon), or how to stop solar “winds” blowing it away. It is a crazy idea but the climate change frenzy seems to be well suited for such madness.
“It's so bonkers that you might assume it's just the plot of an upcoming Hollywood blockbuster.
But scientists really are toying with the idea of catching an asteroid, in the name of saving the planet from climate change.
The bizarre mission, if ever given the go ahead, would then see a massive umbrella stuck on top of the trapped rock to shield Earth from the sun's rays.
István Szapudi, an astronomer from the University of Hawaiʻi, argued his far-fetched concept was merely an enormous 'solar shield'.
The shield – which would be made of the ultra strong 'wonder material' graphene – would block energy from the sun and cool down our planet.
The academic has outlined his madcap idea in a new paper, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Much like being under an umbrella in hot weather, the space shield would cool down Earth, but without plunging us into the next ice age.
'In Hawaiʻi, many use an umbrella to block the sunlight as they walk about during the day,' Szapudi said.
'I was thinking, could we do the same for Earth and thereby mitigate the impending catastrophe of climate change?'
The 'solar shield' concept has been proposed before, notably in a recent study that proposed using moon dust as the sunlight blocker.
Other studies have described using a physical man-made shield that acts as an umbrella – much like Szapudi's idea.
But according to the academic, no one has yet addressed how such an object could be feasibly launched into space and stay in position once it gets there.
Even if a rocket were able to launch the multi-billion ton solar shield, it could potentially be blown out of position by powerful solar radiation.”
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2307434120