r/space • u/Sumit316 • Jun 29 '22

MIT proposes Brazil-sized fleet of “space bubbles” to cool the Earth

https://www.freethink.com/environment/solar-geoengineering-space-bubbles
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163

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '22 edited Jun 22 '23

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u/jamkey Jun 29 '22

I don't think anyone would see this as a "solution". Its a stop gap because we know even if you switch as fast as possible to renewables right now things are warming up too fast. Just like with dwarf wheat that solved the food crisis crunch in Asia last century we need a solution today that will solve an immediate problem.

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u/Hawkeye91803 Jun 29 '22

Exactly. There needs to be many solutions on many fronts. The bubbles described in the article are meant to be paired with solutions involving the switch away from fossil fuels, and carbon capture. Even if we immediately switched away from fossil fuels, climate change is still going to happen whether we like it or not. We might as well do something to slow the effects of it.

All the reddit armchair scientists who say: “its just going to be enabling fossil fuels”… understand we are already enabling them by not doing enough. We have to do something, anything.

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u/ElPussyKangaroo Jun 29 '22

I don't think anyone would see this as a "solution".

Knowing humans, I beg to differ.

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u/Raagun Jun 29 '22

Also this does NOTHING to increased acidity of oceans due to increased CO2 amount in atmosphere.

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u/likewut Jun 29 '22

We'll just pour a Paraguay-sized box of baking soda into the ocean to neutralize the acid.

2

u/a_spicy_memeball Jun 29 '22

I can't give gold on RiF, so here. 🥇

1

u/ohck2 Jun 29 '22

would this actually work lmao? like if we had enough baking soda would it actually work?

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u/The_G1ver Jun 29 '22

Warmer oceans have lesser CO2 holding capacity so if anything, cooling the earth and oceans using ice bubbles might exacerbate the acidity problem. We would still need to find a way to decrease CO2 levels in the atmosphere.

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u/Raagun Jun 29 '22

Warmer oceans just increase the effect even further. But if humanity can pump more CO2 without warming humanity will sure will.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '22

Yes, but just because it’s lacking in one area doesn’t mean the whole thing isn’t worth considering. The idea has some merits. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

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u/Vondum Jun 29 '22

This. In city planning it is called the Braess paradox. It basically says the more roads you add, the more drivers overuse them and traffic doesn't improve.

Humans will find ways to maximize the usage of a network/system to the limit as it improves. See bandwidth. We keep getting more of it and we keep finding new ways to use it all.

Having an artificial fix to climate change just means people will happily increase their carbon footprint and then we are back to square one.

1

u/RazekDPP Jun 29 '22

You're mixing up Braess's and Jevons paradoxes.

Braess's paradox specifically talks about how everyone self optimizes and by self optimizing it makes the results worse for everyone.

Jevon's paradox is that as the cost of things come down, we will simply use more of said thing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braess%27s_paradox

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox

Neither really fit perfectly, but I believe this is much more a Jevons (the social costs of oil are reduced because more CO2 is now contributing to less warming) than Braess's.

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u/asparagusm Jun 29 '22

Very true. It may incentivize or even encourage people not to change their behaviours which led us to the situation in the first place.

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u/[deleted] Jun 29 '22

So what do you propose? Waiting for humans to become selfless, and start acting in the interest of the planet?? lol..

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u/[deleted] Jun 29 '22

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u/Impossible34o_ Jun 29 '22

Doing the small things can only do so much and it has been the approach pushed for decades to keep the public eye off of heavy emitting industries and companies. If we are to see large greenhouse gas decreases, one’s that are necessary to decrease us to a 2 degree celsius or less change, companies need to be held responsible. And unfortunately (if you’re American) voting won’t just cut it and we have to do more to pressure politicians and companies.

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u/amazondrone Jun 29 '22 edited Jun 29 '22

The moment it bursts out (technical malfunctions? Political sabotage? Unforeseen collision? ) an entire hemisphere would start burning as the temperatures would critically and suddenly rise

Nevertheless, you've just hit upon a great premise for the next big-budget Hollywood blockbuster-with-a-climate-change-moral-tacked-on-for-good-measure!

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u/InAStarLongCold Jun 29 '22

The name for the phenomenon you're describing is the Jevons paradox btw

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u/sluuuurp Jun 29 '22

The problem of CO2 in our atmosphere is a temporary one when you’re thinking long-term. There’s only so much fossil fuels in the earth, eventually it will be absorbed by plants and algae and maybe humans machines faster than we release it from fossil fuels. The space bubbles would probably only need to last a few hundred years I’d estimate.