Putin to control climate change issues

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere acts like a glass ceiling in a greenhouse

Global climate warming has given rise to numerous pessimistic forecasts over the last few years. The complete extinction of the species is the bleakest one. Academician Yuri Izrael, director of the Institute of Global Climate and Ecology Studies, submitted proposals on tackling the problem of global warming to President Putin for consideration.

“There is a concept that would enable us to resolve the global warming problem within the next few years as opposed to present-day methods that will take tens or hundreds of years to implement. I would like to take a unique opportunity and hand two pages of the document (proposals) to you,” Mr. Izrael is quoted as saying by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

According to Mr. Izrael, academician Mikhail Budyko predicted an increase in temperatures by 1.5 degree Celsius in the near future. Mr. Bydyko came up with a way to control the climate. Aerosol substances should be inserted into a lower stratum of the stratosphere to reduce the impact of the sun on the earth's surface.

“Many scientists believe that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere acts like a glass ceiling in a greenhouse. Carbon dioxide is thought to be responsible for a 0.6-degree increase of the atmosphere's temperatures. However, there are other factors causing either warming or cooling of the atmosphere. Solid aerosol particles are on top of the list. The particles are produced by industrial enterprises, aircraft, volcanoes, dust storms, typhoons and tornados. But the above factors do not impact on the atmosphere as much as carbon dioxide does. That is why some scientists believe the fight against the carbon dioxide should be a priority.”

“On the other hand, one of the major volcanoes on Alaska blew out huge amounts of aerosols into the atmosphere during 1911 – 1913. As a result, solar radiation over the vast areas decreased by 80%. Why do not we leave carbon dioxide alone? It means no harm to climate as far as I am concerned. Let us reduce the solar radiation by 0.3%-0.5%. Consequently, we will not need the Kyoto Protocol that provides for the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. Mr. Izrael said that the most effective way to reduce the solar radiation is to pump aerosol particles into the stratosphere.”

“To lower the earth's atmosphere temperatures by 1-2 degrees, we will need to pump into the stratosphere about 600 thousand tons of aerosol particles. The above amount of aerosols can be produced by burning 200 thousand tons of sulfur. Burning sulfur up there is not a must. Instead, aircraft could use fuel with a high content of sulfur. Scientists already know the movement patterns of those artificial formations. They normally drift in the stratosphere coming together in wide strips over the region located 30 to 70 degrees latitude. We will be able to protect some areas of the earth against the solar radiation using those formations.”

According to Mr. Izrael, the method will not have any harmful effects on humans.

“A mere 0.2 milligrams of sulfur will fall out onto one square meter of the earth's surface during a year. The quantity is approximately 1000 times smaller than the quality of sulfur that falls out from regular precipitation during the same period,” says he. Mr. Izrael claims the method is safe and a lot cheaper that the so-called “Kyoto projects,” Newsru reports.