Moon-Dust Shield Conceptualized By Scientists Could Save Earth From Overheating

Global warming is pushing scientists to the edge of finding a solution. Unsurprisingly, efforts on Earth are not cutting it, and a team of researchers from the University of Utah has now set their sights on the Moon for help.
 
Astrophysicist Benjamin Bromley and his team have just published a proposal to the PLOS Climate that presents a future where our world will be shielded from the Sun by moon dust.
 
The study spotlights the idea of creating lunar mines and blasting a “jet-like stream” of the galactic soil into our orbit to protect us from UV rays. Bromley and his co-author’s previous work focused on how small dust can intercept starlight.
 
The academics used a mathematical model to determine the best type of particle and its distribution before settling on lunar dust. Their experiments aim for a 1.8% attenuation of the Sun’s heat, about six days per year of an “unobscured Sun.”
 
It is estimated that about 54 million metric tons of the dust can be aimed directly into our orbit to a specific point where it will remain the longest and, in turn, help offset warming. The shield would only need to be “recharged,” so to speak, every few days. And with that, the team has also suggested a solution taken right out of a sci-fi movie: a Moon canon.
 
The equipment would be able to shoot the grains directly between our planet and the Sun. Ultimately, as fantastical as a canon placed on the Moon might sound, the idea is for it to be more energy-efficient as gravity on Earth will make it much more difficult to blast the dust into space.
 
But, as any sci-fi movie has shown us, something as out-of-this-world as a Moon canon probably cannot end well. What the study proves most is that society has now reached a point where scientists have to start thinking out of the box in terms of solutions.
 
Now, this isn’t an end-all solution to global warming. Instead, the researchers note that this is just part of a more prominent solution, and society should still carry out efforts on Earth to mitigate fossil fuel usage.
 
One benefit of such outlandish studies is the chance for researchers to examine all possible avenues on Earth and out in the cosmos that could potentially buy us more time in saving our world.
 
 
 
[via Gizmodo and Washington Post, Photo 50400619 © Ryan Rad | Dreamstime.com]