8 Crazy Global Warming Solutions Scientists Have Actually Considered

Since global warming became an international concern scientists have been hard at work looking for possible solutions. Geoengineering plans have long been disregarded as dangerous last ditch efforts, but it seems some ideas aren't considered just science fiction anymore.

Here's what it could look like:

Proposal: Prevent further melting by wrapping a glacier in reflective covering, or one huge blanket basically. The sheets absorb heat and prevent it from reaching the ice below, keeping it intact. Dr. Jason Box, a glaciologist from Ohio State University, is the brains behind this project.

Problem: Skeptics think the idea is largely impractical and would affect wildlife habitats. Yet Jason and his team actually conducted a test run of this idea for the Discovery Channel. They brought 31 giant rolls of uniquely designed white polypropylene blankets. These blankets, which are used in the Alps to preserve ski hills in the summer, covered a total surface area of 10,000 square meters.

If Earth was a car on a super hot day.

Proposal: These huge metal structures would take up carbon dioxide gas with the use of engineered plastics. The chemicals would react with the CO2 in the air to form carbonate precipitates and water. These by-products would then be piped to storage locations.

Problem: Much of the technology needed to produce these structures already exists. The biggest challenge would not be technological, but economic. How to manufacture the artificial trees cheaply and in sufficient quantities to make an impact.

Paired with windmills for ultimate Earth saving potential.

This vertical farm designed for New York City by Vincent Callebaut is meant to emulate a dragonfly wing.

Cloud seeding with materials such as silver iodide and frozen carbon dioxide has already been used in drought areas. Wintertime cloud seeding is aimed at enhancing snowfall in mountainous regions to increase the snowfall.

Proposal: Incorporating sealed containers of algal plants into building facades to actively take up Carbon Dioxide.

Problem: To make a large scale impact, a huge amount of algae would be needed, and that’s more pricey than other carbon-capture schemes. The algae would also need to be actively harvested and maintained, but it couldn't hurt to have more buildings like this. Some buildings like this already are in the works, such as the BIQ building in Germany.

Proposal: Dumping large amounts of iron into the oceans would spark phytoplankton blooms. Phytoplankton are photosynthetic, needing sunlight and nutrients to grow, taking up carbon dioxide in the process. When the organisms die they sink to the bottom of the ocean, sequestering the carbon they took up.

Problem: The risks of this proposal are huge, including creating dead zones and toxic tides. Small trials have all failed, for the most part scientists have abandoned the idea of ocean fertilization.

BADASS ALERT: California businessman Russ George went rogue and actually conducted a small ocean fertilization of his own, illegally. He had 200,000 pounds of iron sulfate dumped into the Pacific Ocean west of Canada in October, 2012.