Letters from the October 13, 2007, issue of Science News
By Science News
Another idea blown . . .
Conservation by America is not going to decrease global warming (“Asian Forecast: Hazy, Warmer—Clouds of pollution heat lower atmosphere,” SN: 8/4/07, p. 68). We need to imitate known global-cooling events, such as the Krakatoa volcano explosion, which spread sunlight-reflecting dust into the stratosphere in 1883. A hydrogen bomb exploded inside a ship full of white clay could be a first step.
Daniel Shanefield
Honolulu, Hawaii
Recent research suggests that cooling Earth by injecting large amounts of aerosols high in the atmosphere could cause average rainfall worldwide to decrease dramatically, as it did for more than 16 months after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 (SN: 8/25/07, p. 125).—S. Perkins