Scientists Weigh in on Plans to Hack the Weather and Cool the Earth

Geoengineering, i.e. tinkering with the climate to stop the rising tides of climate change, is a provocative and frankly still kinda crazy idea. Two long-awaited reports from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) out today have some pretty harsh words about geoengineering. » 2/10/15 4:10pm 2/10/15 4:10pm

4 Ways Tiny Microbes Changed Life on Earth Forever

This is the microbes' world—we just live in it. Throughout the history of Earth, microbes have radically reshaped life on the planet, from creating the very air we breath to wiping out almost all life on Earth. Don't underestimate the power of tiny, tiny microbes populating the Earth trillions of times over. » 4/07/14 12:00pm 4/07/14 12:00pm

Scientists Plan to Block the Sun Using Man-Made Clouds

The planet is hot and getting hotter. But while most plans to use geoengineering to alter the weather have been rather hypothetical, now a pair of Harvard engineers have announced that they intend to spray thousands of tons of particles into the sky to block the sun's rays—within the coming year. » 7/17/12 9:20am 7/17/12 9:20am

Geoengineering Efforts Against Climate Change Could Turn the Sky White

Regardless of whether or not geoengineering actually does anything positive about climate change, it'll probably have some unintended consequences. Take, for example, this theory that geoengineering will bleach the sky. » 6/04/12 7:40pm 6/04/12 7:40pm

Artificial Volcano to Help Cool the Planet. What?

Here's the plan: A giant garden hose 12.4 miles long, tethered to a ship and attached to a 650-foot (about two football fields) balloon, which will pump out hundreds of tons of chemical particles into the stratosphere to mimic a volcano. » 9/03/11 10:00am 9/03/11 10:00am

Bubble Bath Oceans Could Beat Global Warming

A physicist at Harvard has an idea for fighting climate change that's radical in every sense of the word. He wants to pump massive amounts of microbubbles into the world's oceans, increasing their reflectivity and cooling their waters. » 3/27/10 4:30pm 3/27/10 4:30pm

Q&A: Geoengineering Is "A Bad Idea Whose Time Has Come"

While humans have unintentionally been altering Earth's climate for centuries, some scientists have begun to study how to intentionally hack the globe to cool the overheated planet. » 3/25/10 1:20pm 3/25/10 1:20pm