Novel experiments to save Earth

Mankind's apathy towards planet Earth has resulted in natural disasters. Global warming and deforestation bear testimony to this indifference. In the quest for finding a concrete solution to such issues, a few of the world's eminent scientists are putting novel ideas to test, in the Discovery channel's 'Project Earth'. The programme presents scientists who are working on different experiments to save the planet from the hazardous effects of global warming. The episodes include experiments by Jason Box, a scientist from Ohio State University, who wants to prevent glaciers from melting by covering them with blankets. Jason is convinced that his specially chosen material is resilient enough for Arctic conditions. After testing, they deploy a 10,000-square-yard, reflective geo-textile blanket on the Greenland ice sheet. Another episode portrays a unique greenery drive. Thousands of acres of Louisiana mangrove forests left bare by hurricane Katrina and Rita present a perfect ground for scientist Mark Hodges. He uses an aircraft to drop tens of thousands of canisters, each holding a tree seedling.
The efforts undertaken by John Latham, an atmospheric physicist based at the National Centre for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, and Stephen Salter, an Edinburgh University engineer, are shown in another episode. The scientists believe that by changing the size of water droplets in clouds they can increase the clouds' ability to reflect the sun and stop global warming. Another scientist tries to solve the problem of global warming by just scrubbing the air clean of carbon dioxide before it has the opportunity to add to the blanket of greenhouse gases smothering the earth. Canadian professor David Keith introduces a machine that sucks in ambient air, sprays it with sodium hydroxide solution and then expels it as clean air. In another episode, Fred Fergussen, a Canadian engineer specialising in airships, explains the designing of a revolutionary wind turbine that will use the constant winds that exist at 1,000 feet above sea level to produce renewable energy.

The Hindu, 6th February 2009