Sprayed Aerosols Could Ease Climate Woes?

Dec. 29, 2008 -- It won't solve global warming, but a group of scientists are calling for a focused research program to investigate ways to seed the atmosphere with chemicals that would let the heat out -- literally.

Geoengineering is not a new concept. Governments have changed how and where water flows, filled in lakes and other wetlands for construction, even attempted to control the weather. A project to counter climate change, however, would take geoengineering to an entirely new level.

Leaving aside what may be insurmountable political, cultural and ethical issues, scientists meeting at the American Geophysical Conference in San Francisco earlier this month focused on the practical aspects of releasing gases into the stratosphere that could open Earth's greenhouse.

Scientists are concerned that Earth is growing increasingly warm due to "greenhouse gases," such as carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere that inhibit the planet's ability to radiation heat into space.

Human-related activities, such as burning fossil fuels, are believed to be accelerating the planet's accumulation of greenhouse gases, even though naturally occurring phenomena such as volcanic eruptions and fires account for 97 percent of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Hmm... chemtrails are a growing underground subject gaining popularity to explain the long trails seen after aircraft fly over at medium altitudes. Scientists try to explain these off as "contrails" created by forming ice crystals from the aircraft disturbing the air at high altitude, but critics point out that these trails are short in length and duration, whereas chemtrails are longer and last hours. Would this be an explanation?