Carnegie Institution Of Washington News

The attempt to artificially whiten the surface of the Arctic Ocean and offset climate change will not be able to reduce global temperatures substantially. It could in principle help restore some amount of sea ice, says a research based on model configurations. It has been proposed that disastrous climate effects could be offset by technological approaches, broadly called geoengineering. One geoengineering proposal is to artificially whiten the surface of the Arctic Ocean in order to increase the reflection of the Sun's energy into space and restore sea ice in the area. Ocean whitening involves floating white grains or producing micro bubbles on the surface of the sea to reflect some of the sun's heat back into space.

According to a USA Today report, five U.S. Patent and Trade Office patent applications, made public on July 9, propose slowing hurricanes by pumping cold, deep-ocean water in their paths from barges. If issued, the patents offer 18 years of legal rights to the idea for Bill Gates and co-inventors, including climate scientist Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. (Source: USA Today)