While Removing CO2 takes a lot of time and effort, couldn't we speed the process of removing the heat ?
So obviously this wouldn't be easy, but here is what i thought.
What i understand is that earth naturally cools down by radiating its heat into space as infrared radiation. The CO2 we've "stored" in the atmosphere for the past century or so is acting like a blanket, making the heat from the infrared stay within the atmosphere and reduce the heat transfer.
I also understand that even if we start decreasing CO2 levels, we would be stuck with high temperatures for a while.
So assuming we are on the right path CO2-wise, couldn't a solution be elaborated to artificially increase the heat transfer ? Here is what i thought :
- We could use big white materials (like gravel) to cover big portions of unused land near the equator. Like desert-sized areas. This would not increase heat transfer per se, but it will reduce the amount of energy received by the sun by reflecting more of it. (Greenhouse isn't a total blanket, so allowing more reflection should allow more heat to escape)
- If the CO2 layer is an issue, let's dump the heat above it : With carbon-free energy (obviously) we could pump and concentrate a bunch of heat to shoot it at the altitude where there is the least absorption of radiation. Now this could require Sci-fi levels of infrastructure like a space tower, that may be possible if built at a pole (no centri-force) assuming we have a material capable of supporting its own weight. Or vehicles. A bunch of them that basically carry heat at high altitudes to radiate it into space.
Obviously i didn't just find "The solution to global warming" but i wanted to open a discussion about a possibility of "dealing with heat" after dealing with the CO2
