5 ms·

Serious answer: fly into low orbit, then turn around and look back at earth. The tallest and most dense wind farms are long past being completely invisible to t

Serious answer: fly into low orbit, then turn around and look back at earth. The tallest and most dense wind farms are long past being completely invisible to the naked eye a this point. Now, try to imagine a wind farm tall enough and dense enough to meaningfully impede the flow of air driven by rotation and pressure/temperature differences on the surface of the planet you are looking at. Next, take a guess as to whether such wind turbines are likely to be built under any circumstances.

ibejoeb 3y ago
Sorry, I'm not following at all. So the "tallest and most dense wind farms are long past being completely invisible" means that they are so large as to be visible even from space? > imagine a wind farm tall enough and dense enough to meaningfully impede the flow of air Right. This is begging the question. > whether such wind turbines are likely to be built Exactly what I'm asking.
- velcrovan 3y ago
  > So the "tallest and most dense wind farms are long past being completely invisible" means that they are so large as to be visible even from space? As you ascend, the tallest wind farms cease to become visible at about 30-40 miles of altitude. At that point you still have more 200 miles to ascend before reaching the low end of low earth orbit. So by the time you reach LEO, you are long past the point where wind farms became invisible. > This is begging the question. I am proposing you attempt to visualize the scale of things involved in your question, and that such a visualization ought to make the answer very clear. If the question were "at what point does my box fan collection affect the climate in my zip code" I would answer in a similar way.
  - ibejoeb 3y ago
    I'll take your word for it that wind farms aren't visible 40 miles above the earth. But for the life of me I have no idea why we're talking about it. Is there a lot of wind up there? The research posted in this thread concludes that there is a non-negligible effect on climate. It certainly sounds like you have arrived the opposite conclusion, but as you've left it as exercise to me, I can't be sure.

ibejoeb 3y ago

Sorry, I'm not following at all. So the "tallest and most dense wind farms are long past being completely invisible" means that they are so large as to be visible even from space? > imagine a wind farm tall enough and dense enough to meaningfully impede the flow of air Right. This is begging the question. > whether such wind turbines are likely to be built Exactly what I'm asking.

velcrovan 3y ago
> So the "tallest and most dense wind farms are long past being completely invisible" means that they are so large as to be visible even from space? As you ascend, the tallest wind farms cease to become visible at about 30-40 miles of altitude. At that point you still have more 200 miles to ascend before reaching the low end of low earth orbit. So by the time you reach LEO, you are long past the point where wind farms became invisible. > This is begging the question. I am proposing you attempt to visualize the scale of things involved in your question, and that such a visualization ought to make the answer very clear. If the question were "at what point does my box fan collection affect the climate in my zip code" I would answer in a similar way.
- ibejoeb 3y ago
  I'll take your word for it that wind farms aren't visible 40 miles above the earth. But for the life of me I have no idea why we're talking about it. Is there a lot of wind up there? The research posted in this thread concludes that there is a non-negligible effect on climate. It certainly sounds like you have arrived the opposite conclusion, but as you've left it as exercise to me, I can't be sure.