Self-proclaimed environmental sceptic Bjørn Lomborg believes 1,900 ships could be the solution to the earth’s climate problems

The latest idea to best tackle global warming from controversial environmental commentator Bjørn Lomborg and his Copenhagen Consensus group is a proposal to build an armada of ships that will sail the world’s oceans, producing vast clouds from sea water to reflect the sun’s rays.

Writing in Jyllands-Posten newspaper, Lomborg explains that the unusual proposal – being developed simultaneously by both British and American climate scientists – requires around 1,900 ships be built, each capable of scooping up water and producing vapour. The ensuing clouds would then reflect sunlight back into space and dampen temperatures on Earth.

The cost of such an undertaking is projected to be 45 billion kroner.

It is, said Lomborg, a quick and natural ‘climate manipulation’ solution that could be achieved for relatively little money. Each krone spent would save around 2,000 kroner in costs that would have been incurred had climate change not been averted.

‘When something so cheap could solve such a big issue we should at least investigate its viability, instead of merely talking about how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,’ said Lomborg.

Thirty-one climate economists from Copenhagen Consensus, which is part of the Copenhagen Business School, have conducted a cost-benefit analysis of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in relation to the effects of climate change. Some of their research has concluded in favour of climate manipulation.

But not all are convinced of the group’s findings. Gary Schaffer of the Niels Bohr Institute at Copenhagen University believes that such tampering with the planet’s systems could unleash unforeseen consequences.

‘There are major drawbacks,’ he says of climate manipulation. ‘It threatens to put in motion processes that we can’t control. It would be better just to emit fewer greenhouse gases in the first place.’

But cloud ships are only one solution proposed by climate manipulation supporters. Other measures include seeding the oceans with iron particles, painting all roofs white, firing particles into the stratosphere with canons, and felling billions of trees for storage in airtight underground containers.