Comprehensive report from this newspaper Since the beginning of the 21st century, global warming has become a topic of common concern to all mankind. The endless occurrence of extreme climate phenomena has also made people feel that disaster is approaching. How can humans save the earth? The traditional method is nothing more than reducing pollution and protecting the environment. However, global warming is a consequence of hundreds of years of human industrialization, and it is unlikely to be effective in the short term simply by reducing pollution. So we need creative thinking to come up with practical ways to prevent global warming. Go to the North Pole to make ice? Putting a blanket over melting glaciers? These methods of saving the earth's environment may seem a bit fanciful, but this is indeed a scientific topic that some serious scientists are working hard to "research". They hope that these unconventional methods can reduce the negative effects of global warming. Method 3: Build an artificial wetland island. Location: Coastal area. Project cost: US$800 million per square mile. Issues with building an artificial wetland island: Wetlands are known as the "kidneys of the earth". Together with forests and oceans, they are known as the three major ecosystems in the world. They have the ability to protect the ecology. Safety, protection of biodiversity and other functions. However, due to excessive human colonization, the global wetland area is getting smaller and smaller, and environmental pollution and sea level rise are also threatening the current status of wetlands. Solution: Use recycled waste plastic to make artificial islands the size of basketball courts, plant vegetation on the islands, and then place these artificial islands in damaged wetland waters. Wetlands are one of the most important ecosystems on earth. More than one-third of the world’s bird species call wetlands home. There are also more than 190 species of amphibians and more than 200 species of fish living here. Wetlands can also act as environmental filters, and many pollutants can be absorbed and decomposed by wetlands. The inventor of the artificial wetland island is Bruce Kania of Montana, USA. He chose special vegetation for the artificial island. These are plants that can attract wetland animals, such as frogs, waterfowl, beavers, etc. Because the internal voids of plastic artificial islands are large, the roots of these vegetations can pass through the artificial islands and form a network, and microorganisms can also attach to the plastic and roots. Such an artificially created small ecosystem can play a role in purifying water quality. Kania calls his artificial island a "bio-paradise" and has already conducted experiments on an algae-producing pond on his farm. The results show that the "bio-paradise" filters a large amount of fertilizer in the pond and prevents it from growing. spread of algae. There are currently about 3,000 such artificial island ecosystems in operation around the world. A reservoir in Singapore also uses a "bio-paradise" system to absorb pollutants and clean the water. Prospects: Kania is very confident in his invention, but the environmental protection effect of artificial islands lacks sufficient scientific data to support it. Relevant departments in the United States are currently demonstrating the specific effectiveness of the "Biological Paradise" system. Method 4: Genetically improve trees Location: Tropical rainforest Project cost: US$120,000 per square kilometer Problem with machine nursery in factories: Every day, the global tropical rainforest area is reduced by 100,000 acres, with more than 100 tropical rainforest species became extinct. Due to the increasing human demand for wood, experts predict that all tropical rainforests around the world will disappear by 2050. Solution: Use genetic methods to improve tree species to reduce human development of tropical rainforests. This is the idea of ??"ArborGen", a biotechnology company located in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. According to their vision, farmers can produce trees on a large scale in the future, and only require 5% of the original land. "ArborGen" has started this research in 2000. They extracted useful genes from nearly ten species of trees and tried to breed new tree species with fast growth and good wood quality. At present, they have cultivated pine trees that can mature in 18 years, while the original maturity period of pine trees is 30 years. The two biggest problems currently facing this research are time and funding. Breeding genetically modified trees is a laborious and expensive project. Even if scientists develop new tree species, cultivating seedlings is hard work.
Prospects: In order to increase the efficiency of researching new tree species, the "ArborGen" company hopes to use automated production lines to cultivate seedlings. The automated machinery and equipment they research can take on all the work of cultivating seedlings. The company also hopes to use the technology to save rare tree species from extinction. Method 5: Use water pumps to tame hurricanes. Location: Gulf of Mexico. Project cost: $5 billion. Use water pumps to tame hurricanes. Problem: Another major hazard of global warming is the increase in extreme weather phenomena. As ocean waters warm, hurricanes are becoming more frequent and more intense. Solution: Cooling the water on the ocean surface can "tame" hurricanes. This is the idea of ??Phil Kisher, an inventor in New Mexico, USA. He plans to "insert" 1.6 million water pumps into the Gulf of Mexico. These water pumps will reach deep into the seabed. Once it is detected that a hurricane may form in the Gulf of Mexico, these pumps will Pumps can bring cold water up from the depths of the ocean to cool the surface water, thereby making tropical storms disappear. According to Kisher’s plan, this construction will last four months, cost US$5 billion, and use at least 100 transport ships. The water pump invented by Kisher is powered by seawater waves. Next month he will take 10 of these pumps to the waters near Bermuda for testing. He plans to cool a third of a square mile of seawater. Previously, Kisher had conducted experiments with a single water pump. As a result, he once lowered the sea surface temperature by 3.7 degrees Celsius. Of course, it is impossible to achieve such obvious results in large-scale experiments, but experts point out that if the sea temperature drops by 0.5 degrees Celsius, the intensity of hurricanes will be reduced by 5. Outlook: The results of Kisher's Bermuda experiment are crucial. Kisher also believes that pumping up the water from the seabed will bring up a large amount of nutrients, which will help improve the deteriorating marine ecological environment. Ice-making ships make ice in the Arctic. Wind turbines Water outlets Barges Artificial islands made of recycled plastic. Water purification system Plant roots Plastic islands Vegetation Pumps that draw water from the ocean floor. (The above are all virtual pictures) Water pump Cold water Water inlet Water pipe Excerpt /d/2007-08-11/15461670556.shtml