Would $36,186,518,000 worth of insulation per year make a dent in global warming?

Question

That happens to be the amount of the 2008 request for the US foreign aid budget.

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/80151.pdf

Answer 1

Spend it on nuclear energy. I can buy insulation at Home Depot. They don't seem to carry any home nuclear reactors, though...

Answer 2

Sorry about that - I requested 36 billion, I figured it would be a tidy sum to retire on. Would it help if I reduced it to say 34 billion?

Seriously tho'... it's an interesting point that you make and there have been schemes put forward to 'insulate' the planet against some of the solar radiation we receive from the sun. The insulation being in the form of a blanket of sulphur dioxide.

There are several such geoengineering schemes, as far as I'm aware no price tag has been attached to this particular one. It involves transporting one million tons of hyrdogen sulphide into the stratosphere where it is burned to produce sodium dioxide. It has been suggested that unmanned rockets could be used or that the Navy could launch 'sodium missiles'.

Either approach would be incredibly expensive, mainly becuase of the mass of material to be transported. If carried by the Shuttle then it would take 43,000 trips. If a rocket could be launched with 10 times the payload then it's still over 4,000 launches that would be needed and rockets don't come cheap.

All the same, $36 billion would make a significant contribution to the cost of insulating the planet. However, there are other much less expensive geoengineering schemes such as cloud manipulation and ocean nourishment that would be a fraction of this amount.

If we collected $1 form each person on the planet then schemes to mitigate global warming could be implemented within the next few years.

Answer 3

Of course...it might take that much to cover my house so it had no effect in any manner whatsoever on the climate!

Of course, that much insulation would take a long time to manufacture, and much energy would be expended, and likely with today's plants, much CO2 would be emitted, as well as many other gases, so actually it might increase the CO2 levels!

BUT...if we orbited that much insulation in a nice layer a few thousand miles up, we could shield the earth, and make it as cold as we wish. Short of anything except maybe an asteroidal impact, or the sun going Nova.

But...suppose we stopped aiding the peoples of the earth...their governments really, and put that much money into getting solar power up and running in Space? And moving much basic manufacturing to space and mining the asteroidal belt?

We CAN do it nicely on that budget, I believe, and wind up with no messy space blankets, and a lot less pollution long term down here.

We have the technology, I understand, and have had for many decades. But it is a long term grand project, to better the future, and help all mankind to expand to a better life. Just the money needed keeps going elsewhere; I understand NASA even has been bent away from space to deal with the "problem" with means confined to the earth level.

I am sure if the money were moved to be spent on "Global Warming" it would find its ways elsewhere into Important People's pockets just as space money has, and be frittered away. That is what politicians are good for.

But it IS an idea! And I think has much merit to stimulate thought.

Maybe we could encase all those who are vehemently sending out false and misleading data and demanding immediate massive solutions that only make money for Big Business, and hurt the the small people of the World in it, and let settled and unbiased and non-politically-ambitious minds study and come up with good information and a considered long-range plan.

Develop computer models, for example, that actually work and can take into account known historical data.

And determine how we can all live well with a new layout of land and sea and new cropland and mineral resources. And still in a reasoned and practical way move our power and industry off the Earth itself and eliminate lots and lots of pollution and have energy and to spare. And shut up the politicians who see this as getting in the way of their power and riches.

Answer 4

Maybe Patty would talk the Captain into doing a study on this 8~)

Answer 5

i love it when my congress gives all of that money to people that hate us. I get this warm and fuzzy feeling. Kinda like that insulation would give you.
spend that money here and only give when their debt is paid