Feeling the heat

The sight was electrifying: a solar powered flying machine ascended into the desert morning in order to probe a new frontier for ecology and sustainability. Venturing far beyond the conventional concept of an airplane, Solar Impulse II is a science adventure to test and develop new practical technologies that can deal with the urgent, global problem of climate change. Hatched by two Swiss celebrity explorers, Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard, the experimental aircraft intends to circumnavigate the earth in a five month-long flight that is divided into 12 segments. To optimize its chances of success, Solar Impulse II took off last month from Abu Dhabi. The ultimate problem the flight seeks to address — climate change — is defined as the modification of climate patterns, both regionally and globally, and has been attributed to the increased level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to fossil fuel consumption. The general