Reflecting heat back into space using artificial clouds and mirrors is one option for tackling global warming.
But some experts warn that these and other techniques – known as geo-engineering – could cool areas of the globe too much, or backfire by creating harmful effects on plants and animals. Many climate change campaigners also oppose geo-engineering techniques that risk leading to a relaxation of efforts to replace fossil fuels with renewable sources of power.
Even so there seems to be a broadening group of scientists and policymakers who are taking geo-engineering seriously. They say it probably makes some sense to invest time and money in these techniques in case development of alternative technologies fails to keep pace with the growth in demand for fossil fuels.
“These geo–scale interventions are undoubtedly risky: but the time may come when they are universally perceived to be less risky than doing nothing,” The Royal Society, a British scientific body, wrote on its Web site.
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