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Climate Control
Global warming is ultimately caused by the absorption of solar radiation. Irrespective of atmospheric effects, any radiation control mechanism would be effective at controlling global temperature.
A vast solar shield like a planetary umbrella could be achieved using a large array of small satellites that deploy an ultra-thin shield, each connecting to each other, these could be opened or closed as needed and replaced as they become damaged by micrometeorites and other debris. The size and cost of such a system may well outweigh the cost of any problems associated with global warming. One cost solution is to make the satellites self-replicating and self-constructing, salvaging materials from comets or space debris. This is complex and would require a space factory as a central control system, and other networks.
Controlling the magnetic field of the planet might be simpler. The magnetic field deflects solar particles and a stronger magnetic field would limit the amount of radiation that heats the Earth and the atmosphere (there are currently some questions to be answered regarding the strength of this effect on global climate and cloud formation, although most scientists seem to accept that there is some effect). A system to control or boost the magnetic field would be simpler than a solar umbrella.
How might this be achieved? One option is a tunnelling robot that could drill into the Earth to depths beyond human tolerance, there staying. It would contain a vast electrical transformer, and be one of several around the planet. These would operate in sequence to drive the liquid core of the Earth like an induction motor, changing the speed of rotation of the core and therefore the strength of the magnetic field as a whole. A large series of smaller robots might be cheaper and more feasible, although the problems with servicing or replacing these devices might be very complex!
Perhaps the most ambitious, or if simplest option is life, the creation of a lifeform that lives underground and has a vested interest in regulating the geomagnetic field. A sci-fi dream from a distant future? Perhaps, but dreaming is important. Were not all our great fantastical inventions and achievements once mere dreams?
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