Could Goodyear save the planet? Well, not quite. But scientists from several U.K. universities have proposed floating a massive particle-spewing blimp over the Earth in the hope that its emissions will cool our warming planet. Will this government-funded project produce any meaningful results, or is it just another bizarre engineering pipe dream? Here, a guide:
What exactly are scientists proposing?
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Where did the blimp advocates come up with this idea?
Volcanoes. Massive eruptions like the 1991 Mount Pinatubo volcanic eruption hurl tons of particles into the atmosphere, and for two years after Mount Pinatubo blew, average global temperatures dropped by about one degree. The same principle, scientists hope, could turn back the warming trend caused by climate change.
Will this really work?
Nobody knows, so the British government is helping to fund a small test project in which a 62-foot balloon pumping ordinary tap water into the air will be hoisted above an abandoned airfield in Norfolk, England.
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