[extropy-chat] Nuclear terraforming

[Henrique Moraes Machado (oplnk)]

Since we're on this wondering thing, I'd suggest using the nuclear power to 
redirect a big rock to hit Venus. So there would be no radiation to clean.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joseph Bloch" <transhumanist at goldenfuture.net>
To: "ExI chat list" <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Sent: Friday, December 16, 2005 1:02 AM
Subject: Re: [extropy-chat] Nuclear terraforming


> I'm pretty sure that wouldn't work.
> The different between nuclear winter and greenhouse effect is a fine line, 
> and has to do with albedo and suchlike. You'd probably do much better 
> cooling Venus with a scheme to get rid of the cloud cover, so more heat 
> was radiated into space, rather than being reflected back to the surface.
> Such is my layman's understanding...
> Joseph

> Adrian Tymes wrote:
>>But speaking of applying nuclear weapons to vast surfaces...I
>>wonder - has anyone looked into the feasability of, say,
>>initiating nuclear winter on Venus so as to rapidly chill the
>>planet, so that much of the sulfuric acid comes out of the
>>atmosphere (which might then allow establishment of more
>>permanent temperature-control mechanisms, infeasable to deploy
>>right now mainly because of the immense temperature, pressure,
>>and acid rains at Venus's surface)?  Most of the radioactive
>>fallout could probably be localized, and even if the atmosphere
>>were magically converted to Earth-temperature oxygen-nitrogen
>>overnight, the soil will probably need cleaning before people can
>>live there as it is anyway (again, due to the sulfuric acid
>>rains).