Meglomaniacs taking over

[Davey-T]

Not content with thousands of shiny satellites now Bill Gates wants to blot out the Sun to reduce global warming 😂

Hope it's fake news.

Dave

[JamesF]

Shades of Ringworld...

James

[JamesF]

Hah!  "Shades".  See what I did there? :D

James

[Buzzard75]

If we blot out the sun that means we get to look at the stars 24 hours a day....hmmm, maybe he's on to something...

[MarsG76]

Ah man....

 

[wxsatuser]

 

[Demonperformer]

On 14/08/2019 at 02:14, Buzzard75 said:

If we blot out the sun that means we get to look at the stars 24 hours a day....hmmm, maybe he's on to something...

Why would light pollution be any better during the day?

[Buzzard75]

5 hours ago, Demonperformer said:

Why would light pollution be any better during the day?

It wouldn't be, but it shouldn't be any worse than it is at night right now, right? The more important question is, how much of the sun are we blotting out? Completely blocking it out so no light reaches Earth, such that the entire surface is experiencing a total solar eclipse rather than a small strip as is typical? Or, are we talking partial blockage where we still receive some percentage of direct sunlight? Or, is it just going to be filtered using a giant ERF?

[Peter Drew]

Start buying shares in tanning salons.   😎

[Mr Spock]

Doesn't the sun go dark at night anyway?

[Rusted]

Given the "donor" who made most of his money from local taxpayers paying open ended license fees.
These were for regular Windup <cough> upgrades to machines run by local government for public service.

So, there is a choice between paying BIG a regular license fee to be in a lit strip on Earth.
Or making do with constant darkness and overhead advertising 24x7 without the option of Adblock.

No doubt there will be option to eat or not to eat [at all.]
Depending if the local fields can get enough light without paying a license fee to BIG.
BIG will then move into  cereal production, on his eclipsing mask, to feed the hungry via a constant license fee.
He will call this "philanthropy." So he can claim back 150% in unpaid taxes plus interest.

[Stub Mandrel]

It sounds crazy at first, but if the alternative is mass extinction and the collapse of civilisation...

But could be counter-productive... where do you shield?

Shield the seas and... algae stop turning CO2 into limestone...

Shield the land and people starve.

OTOH a lot of medium-sized geostationary things that chiefly block IR and are placed in a diffuse pattern so as to reduce irradiation over a large area rather than creating cold spots could have an impact without being noticeable from the ground. Also, partly shading large areas of permanent icecap could have a  disproportionately beneficial effect.

[Rusted]

While the despots can continue to rule the world, riding on the backs of coal, oil and gas the human race is heading for the big Reset button.
Every technological civilisation must inevitably reach the thermal barrier. Or change how it is governed, by whom and for whom.
Nation states no longer have any meaning once the global population crashes.
Geographical borders are mere, historical anachronisms fought over by deranged "entitled" sociopaths since the dawn of man.
We have too dominant a greed gene and it will be the death of us all.  As in: "Thrice woah!"   F.H. 

 

[Davey-T]

Aye we're all doooomed I tell ye 😂

Dave

[DAVE AMENDALL]

I thought sun shielding in the UK was in operation anyway. Don't seem  see it around here much

[Gina]

Been out here today.  Gone in now though and wall-to-wall cloud!

[DAVE AMENDALL]

I see Richard Branson has opened the first Space Port. I suppose he will be offering Celebs round the moon trips. I think space trips to the sun would be safer at night when it's cooler. I wonder what he will be charging. One would need a return ticket and travel insurance.......Dave

[Rusted]

Would it be non-PC to suggest a few might benefit from a one/way ticket?

Alternatively Mr B could make a few more bob by bunging corpses straight into The Sun.
[Aka: The Nearest Star not the tabloid newspaper of the same name.]

Speed up the old "We are Stardust," sort of thing. Should go down well with wealthy hippies.
Make a nice change from taking your butler to <cough> "Burning Man."