Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel

So the last couple of weeks in Energy and the Environment, we have been learning about several renewable methods to generate energy. Those include wind energy, burning landfill gas, and geothermal heating. The main goal of these programs is to reduce the levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are being emitted into the air.

What we haven't discussed though is ways of dealing with the immense levels of greenhouse gases that are already present in the atmosphere and causing global warming. During the past week I have been reading on some different ways scientists across the globe have proposed to handle this problem. One particular proposal that caught my eye discussed the possibility of simulating volcanoes.

The EPA's Frank Priciotta released an extensive report recently that highlighted the extent to which industrial CO2 emissions contributes to global warming. The report was called "Global Climate Change and the Mitigation Challenge." Not only did Priciotta gather extensive data on CO2 emissions but he also discussed the possibility of cooling down the earth's atmosphere by simulating the effects of an active volcano. According to the plan, enormous quantities of sulfate particles would be released into the stratosphere. This in turn would reflect incoming solar radiation and ultimately would lead to a reduction in the planetary atmosphere.

WHAT!?

It has taken 100 years of CO2 emitting to raise the Earth's temperature by 1 degree Fahrenheit. What quantity of sulfate is going to be required to reverse these effects? And how many years of sulfate emitting will be required before any noticeable effect occurs? I can't even begin to imagine. And where exactly are we going to get all of this sulfur from? It doesn't make since to me that the key to solving the effects of CO2 emissions is through emitting other chemicals into the air! I am very interested to see in the future is this plan will gain any merit. Considering that a top EPA scientist is a big proponent of this idea along with several other scientists, is it possible that our government would ever approve a plan this extreme? And if they ever did, would this actually be a positive solution to the problem, or would this just give industries an excuse to continue emitting CO2 and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere?

I guess we are beginning to reach a critical stage in our planet's history, maybe desperate times call for desperate measures... but I can't imagine a point at which this option would make sense...

Here is the link to the report:

"Global Climate Change and the Mitigation Challenge"

The plan is mentioned on page 29 and 35 of the report.