Blocking out the Sun is being seriously considered as a temporary solution to slow down global warming. But the U.N. might ban these solar shades, perhaps because someone there knows The Simpsons already did it...and it didn't work out well.
The United Nations's Convention on Biological Diversity is expected to either ban outright or limit research into space sunshades. Although NASA and other organizations are looking into these sunshades as a possible way to slow climate change, environmental advocates have criticized this research as providing only a short-term fix that wouldn't affect the underlying issues, like humanity's overuse of fossil fuels. There are also serious questions about how blocking out part of the Sun's rays could affect weather patterns, ecosystems, and agriculture.
But let's be real here - we all know what happens when people try to blot out the Sun, and it ends with babies shooting evil business tycoons. (Whether that story makes sense or not is still a matter of great debate.) Matt Groening has extensively documented the folly of trying to block the Sun, first on The Simpsons...
And then on Futurama...
Look, I'm no scientist, but if you're planning on blotting out the sun, I'm definitely first going to want to hear from Sideshow Mel...