Tackling Climate Change With Artificial Ecosystems
Climate change is already influencing global weather patterns, wreaking havoc in areas such as the Middle East and East Africa. However, in a bid to slow some of its more devastating effects, innovators are looking to reengineer the world and terrain around us. It’s a provocative thought – that we could simply change the planet’s weather patterns and growing climate shifts through shifting the earth itself. But is this feasible?
Well it could be for nations with the resources (read: finances) to undertake these projects. The United Arab Emirates, for example, has a severe desert climate which only sees a few inches of rainfall each year. Yet officials recently commissioned the U.S. based National Center for Atmospheric Research to look into building an artificial mountain.
Those of us who grew up between the water and mountains know of the orographic effect - if not by name then by its climate. Essentially, as weather systems formed over water are forced to move upwards into cooler atmospheres, the water molecules in the air condense. This is what causes rainfall and brings cooler weather to the area.
http://www.care2.com/causes/tackling-climate-change-with-artificial-ecosystems.html

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