by Christopher Mims. Mark Lynas, an author whose pop-sci books about climate change are scrupulous enough to get favorable reviews from the likes of climate scientist Eric Steig, proposed a funny little thought experiment on his blog : Could switching to renewables strip the planet of its sun-protective smog? And if so, will we need to replace it with artificial smog instead? Dirty energy sources like coal and biomass burning are currently filling the earth's atmosphere with a never-ending haze that is cooling the globe by about 1 degree F. If we switch completely to renewables, Lynas postulates, we might have to replace that unintentional haze with a deliberate haze of aerosols, just to keep the planet from warming further. We might, for instance, need to fill the atmosphere with tons and tons of sulphate particles, delivered via a kilometer-long hose into the sky .

More on SKCEA.org:

• Atlantic leatherbacks at risk from fisheries
  Scientists have used satellites to track the world's largest nesting population of leatherback turtles across the South Atlantic for the first time. Their results reveal the routes the critically endangered creatures take make them more vulnerable to commercial fishing in the Sou...
• Jerry Brown wishes we could treat clean energy like we treat stuffed lions
  by Jess Zimmerman. California Gov. Jerry Brown (whose full first name is Edmund, who knew) has reached across the aisle for the sake of dead mountain lions. Now he'd like to gently suggest to the California senate that things like clean energy might be almost as important. ...
• Why Wood Smoke May not Be Good for You
  Some people enjoy the scent of a wood fire. Still smoke is full of particulate matter and exotic trace chemicals. Two new studies led by University of California, Berkeley, researchers spotlight the human health effects of exposure to smoke from open fires and dirty cook stoves, ...
• Ask Umbra: Can I pee in my compost pile?
  Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, I’ve always enjoyed relieving myself out-of-doors as a way to reduce my water usage, but I recently read that certain chemicals that we cannot metabolize (caffeine, for example) can be pollutants but get removed in the water trea...
• Critical List: Green jobs program flounders; India calls Monsanto out on biopiracy
  by Sarah Laskow. Oof. Only 10 percent of people the Labor Department trained for green jobs have found work. Using solar energy to extract oil must be the ultimate example of greenwashing. In Afghanistan, networking generators together can relieve 7,900 fuel trucks of their duti...