Stop The Melt Dr. Jason
Box, a glacierologist from Ohio State University wants to
prevent glaciers from melting by covering them with blankets
that will reflect the power of the sun. Jason is convinced
that his specially chosen material is resilient enough for
Arctic conditions but just how indestructible is it really?
Raining Forest Following
the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, thousands of
acres of Louisiana mangrove forests were left bare. The huge
swath of land presents a perfect proving ground for scientist
Mark Hodges' idea to use an aircraft to drop tens of thousands
of canisters, each holding a tree seedling to repopulate the
forest.
MARS Turbine Fred
Fergussen, a Canadian engineer specializing in airships, has
designed a revolutionary wind turbine that will use the
constant winds that exist at 1,000 feet above sea level to
produce a renewable energy. To pass the test it will need to
remain in the sky for 24 hours and provide the necessary
energy to power a water purification unit.
Shiny Clouds John Latham,
an atmospheric physicist based at the National Center for
Atmospheric Research in Colorado, and Stephen Salter, an
Edinburgh University engineer, believe that by changing the
size of water droplets in clouds they can increase the clouds
ability to reflect the sun and stop global warming. Their
vision is to build a flotilla of ships that will roam the
world's oceans and seed clouds with minute particulates.
Scrubbing The Air
Clean What if we could solve the problem of global
warming by just scrubbing the air clean of carbon dioxide
before it has the opportunity to add to the blanket of
greenhouse gases smothering the earth? Canadian professor
David Keith - the 2006 Canadian Geographic Environmental
Scientist of the Year - believes he can with a machine that
sucks in ambient air sprays it with sodium hydroxide solution
and then expels it as clean air.
Ocean Pipes Oceans cover 70
percent of our planet and are the most important carbon sink
we have, but the phytoplankton that converts carbon dioxide
into living matter is dying off from climate change. Dr. Brian
von Herzen of the California Institute of Technology will
deploy five wave-powered pumps in the rough Hawaiian surf in
an attempt to restore this critical natural mixing effect.
Space Sunshade Astronomer
and professor Roger Angel thinks he can diffract the power of
the sun by placing trillions of lenses in space and creating a
100,000 square mile sunshade. See how the lenses are
constructed and the rocket delivery system is tested in this
audacious experiment to reduce the planet's warming.
Space Solar Power We
could have a source of never-ending power and, at the same
time, reduce our carbon emissions to virtually zero by sending
thousands of satellites into space, which will gather energy
from the sun and then beam them down to earth as a microwave.
Former NASA physicist John Mankins puts his theory into
practice.
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