Change sky's colour, proposes Flannery

[Cobez]

Change sky's colour, proposes Flannery




Scientist Tim Flannery has proposed a radical solution to climate change which may change the colour of the sky.

But he says it may be necessary, as the "last barrier to climate collapse."

Professor Flannery says climate change is happening so quickly that mankind may need to pump sulphur into the atmosphere to survive.

Australia's best-known expert on global warming has updated his climate forecast for the world - and it's much worse than he thought just three years ago.

He has called for a radical suite of emergency measures to be put in place.

The gas sulphur could be inserted into the earth's stratosphere to keep out the sun's rays and slow global warming, a process called global dimming.

"It would change the colour of the sky," Prof Flannery told AAP.

"It's the last resort that we have, it's the last barrier to a climate collapse."

"We need to be ready to start doing it in perhaps five years time if we fail to achieve what we're trying to achieve."

Prof Flannery, the 2007 Australian of the Year, said the sulphur could be dispersed above the earth's surface by adding it to jet fuel.

He conceded there were risks to global dimming via sulphur.

"The consequences of doing that are unknown."

Professor Flannery, who spoke at a business and sustainability conference in Parliament House on Monday, said new science showed the world was much more susceptible to greenhouse gas emissions that had been thought eight years ago.

Regardless of what happened to emissions in the future, there was already far too much greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, he said.

Cutting emissions was not enough. Mankind now had to take greenhouse gases out of the air.

"The current burden of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is in fact more than sufficient to cause catastrophic climate change," Prof Flannery said.

"Everything's going in the wrong direction at the moment, timelines are getting shorter, the amount of pollution in the atmosphere is growing."

"It's extremely urgent."

As well as the global dimming plan, Prof Flannery said carbon should be taken out of the air and converted into charcoal, then ploughed into farmers' fields.

Wealthy people should pay poor farmers in tropical zones to plant forests - possibly through a direct purchase scheme like the eBay website.

And all conventional coal-fired power stations - which did not have "clean coal" technology - should be closed by 2030.

Capturing carbon emissions from coal-fired power stations and storing it underground - called carbon capture and storage (CCS) - was a good idea, Professor Flannery said.

He urged Australia to dramatically fast-track CCS research and give the technology to the Chinese, who are building the equivalent of one new coal-fired power station a week.

Prof Flannery said while the Rudd government was doing more to tackle climate change than its predecessor, it was still "nowhere near enough."

He called on the government to remove the means test on the $8,000 rebate for domestic solar panels introduced in last week's budget.

"It's probably the bureaucrats getting in the way, we all know that sort of policy is not going to work," he said.






WTFBBQ'S?!?!?!

[azkwazere]

This mother ****er has spent way to long blowing up black baloons....

wow...

aZk.

[Cobez]

I dunno about balloons, but he has been blowing alot of something.........

[pow3rslave]

agreed he should do his part to limit global warming by smoking less bongs.

[Cobez]

Or smoking less crack!!

[minux]

I wish global warming was a bloody issue. Sick of having to use my heater to keep our house warm.

[Cobez]

Not to mention how ****ing cold it is outside!!!!!!!!!!

[sixshooter]

I'm no Einstein, but doesn't sulfur + oxygen + water = sulphuric acid... or acid rain !?

Good for Bird **** and flakey paint removal every time it rains.

I always wanted a shiney metal car like a Delorian!



Bring on... the Environmental Sulphur Gun !!!

[Grennan]

"...Consequences are unknown". ****, even i know that chucking sulphur in the air cant be good.

[Emackulation]

As long as the sky changes to green then go for it...

[Bax]

What a crazy Idea, why not build a large bubble around the earth instead.

How much sulphur would actually be needed?

Consequences of global dimming are unknown, perhaps if they overdo it the whole country could freeze over and turn into a wasteland.

By simply adding jet fuel.. wtf! That's not a safe removal.

Why don't we land on the sun and turn the switch down a little bit.

[ProphetVX]

I'm no Einstein, but doesn't sulfur + oxygen + water = sulphuric acid... or acid rain !?

Good for Bird **** and flakey paint removal every time it rains.

I always wanted a shiney metal car like a Delorian!



Bring on... the Environmental Sulphur Gun !!!

Depending on the concentrations of sulphur that this guy is talking about, it's certainly possible.

What an idiot. Let's just add another pollutant to the air to cover up another alleged problem that many scientists are actually having trouble trying to prove.

Here's an idea, if you want to prevent global warming (if it exists), stop governments subsidising the oil industries, cut down on coal mining and put in place more naturally viable alternatives for power such as geothermal, hydro, wind and solar grids in this vast baron land we have.

Our landscape is perfect for the generation of wind and solar power. The initial outlay may be expensive, but over time it will save money, unfortunately most countries don't have forward thinking governments and just think slapping on another tax will curb usage.

[1991_Vn2nV]

Who the **** gave this guy australian of the year?

[spauldj308]

What a nutcase.

[Astranomical]

Drugs are bad mmmkay.

[Cordelia calais]

Ok guys I know we are all on the attack but global warming is an issue and although this guy is clearly stretching he is however bringing the global warming debate up again. Its just like earth hour a few weeks ago, it did nothing for the environment however it did bring awareness of global warming to the forefront. As for sulfer? They also said DDT was fine a few years back and showed videos of people smiling and being sprayed, 15 yrs later. . . . . the fact is we need to do something and soon as it take so long to take affect, lets start with big business shall we? also just 5 yrs ago they charged a you for a water tank and sometimes you had to get approval to have one now they are pushing for them to be had? Education people! when people think building another dam will help us you know people have no idea what is going on and what to do about it, another dam wont help we can hold plenty of water stop cutting down the rain forrest heello RAIN forrest hence the rain!!!

[ProphetVX]

Ok guys I know we are all on the attack but global warming is an issue and although this guy is clearly stretching he is however bringing the global warming debate up again. Its just like earth hour a few weeks ago, it did nothing for the environment however it did bring awareness of global warming to the forefront. As for sulfer? They also said DDT was fine a few years back and showed videos of people smiling and being sprayed, 15 yrs later. . . . . the fact is we need to do something and soon as it take so long to take affect, lets start with big business shall we? also just 5 yrs ago they charged a you for a water tank and sometimes you had to get approval to have one now they are pushing for them to be had? Education people! when people think building another dam will help us you know people have no idea what is going on and what to do about it, another dam wont help we can hold plenty of water stop cutting down the rain forrest heello RAIN forrest hence the rain!!!

Errr I hate to break it to you but rain forests don't create rain. They reside in climates that have dense humidity.

[minux]

the fact is we need to do something and soon as it take so long to take affect, lets start with big business shall we? also just 5 yrs ago they charged a you for a water tank and sometimes you had to get approval to have one now they are pushing for them to be had? Education people! when people think building another dam will help us you know people have no idea what is going on and what to do about it, another dam wont help we can hold plenty of water stop cutting down the rain forrest heello RAIN forrest hence the rain!!!

Actually studies have shown that moving of dams and creating newer ones will go a long way to helping. Rain patterns have shifted. We are not getting any less rain than 15 years ago, yet we cannot store our water...reason being is rain isn't falling in the same places and our dam capacities CANNOT handle our population growth much like our power grids. Better placed catchments would go a long long way to helping our water issues. That and better ways of moving water around the state. Do people realllly think open channel water movements are a good idea?

As for rain forests Rain forests do not produce rain, they do however help capture carbon and release oxygen. That being said, older forests do this less effectively then regenerating forests.

[Cordelia calais]

PFFFT *goes and hides in her office* Note to self, bash person who told me loads of crap about global warming!!

[cxcxcxvcvcvc]

The problem is that no body gives a ***! I mean who gets in thier car each morning and says h i think ill walk to work today to save the earth? pfttt! we are a selfish race who will only learn to pay for it by the time its to late!!

[ProphetVX]

PFFFT *goes and hides in her office* Note to self, bash person who told me loads of crap about global warming!!

Here is a fact about global warming, well in particular australia. Our lack of rain has nothing to do with global warming. We have been experiencing irregular rainfall for the best part of 10-15 years because there is an el nino weather system off our eastern coast, actually it's closer to South America in the pacific ocean. It's a rare phenomenon that is actually drawing rainfall away from our coast lines. That system is actually breaking up, and it has been doing so for the last 2 or 3 years. Not surprisingly, we're beginning to experience regular downfalls again.

Global warming may or not be an issue, no one can actually establish whether it exists or not. There is pretty solid proof that we aren't if you analyze weather patterns spanning thousands of years, in fact our average temperature rise per year is actually less than the last bronze age, which it looks like we may be heading into. That's not to say we shouldn't try and minimise our impact on the environment.

We get plenty of rain, we just don't manage it well. We are one of the few countries in the world that do not rely heavily on grey or recycled water. If our governments were forward thinking, we would not be in the situations we find ourselves in now. That being said, in NSW dam levels have risen by 100% in the last year.

[Cordelia calais]

Here is a fact about global warming, well in particular australia. Our lack of rain has nothing to do with global warming. We have been experiencing irregular rainfall for the best part of 10-15 years because there is an el nino weather system off our eastern coast, actually it's closer to South America in the pacific ocean. It's a rare phenomenon that is actually drawing rainfall away from our coast lines. That system is actually breaking up, and it has been doing so for the last 2 or 3 years. Not surprisingly, we're beginning to experience regular downfalls again.

Global warming may or not be an issue, no one can actually establish whether it exists or not. There is pretty solid proof that we aren't if you analyze whether patterns spanning thousands of years, in fact our average temperature rise per year is actually less than the last bronze age, which it looks like we may be heading into.

We get plenty of rain, we just don't manage it well. We are one of the few countries in the world that do not rely heavily on grey or recycled water. If our governments were forward thinking, we would not be in the situations we find ourselves in now. That being said, in NSW dam levels have risen by 100% in the last year.

Thanks!

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

This is a rehash of an idea a few years ago, I can't remember who suggested it or when, but I recall reading about this, and the distribution method. Where is commsirac when you need him? I'm sure he can provide us with the link and whether it is achievable or not.

[vnv8driver]

does anyone actually look at the sky at night?? its not always black (not becasue of the moon) ive seen the sky a bright red on numerous occasions (clear skys) so i think theres a little more to it.

[Cobez]

does anyone actually look at the sky at night?? its not always black (not becasue of the moon) ive seen the sky a bright red on numerous occasions (clear skys) so i think theres a little more to it.

What? That makes so sense whatsoever in accordance with the subject everyone is discussing. This guy wants to spray the atmosphere with sulphur, which in turn will change the sky's colour to purple due to dimming and so forth.

What you are talking about, is a natural occurence, and possibly something to do with air pollution. 2 seperate reasons for the sky's colour.