If I wanted to turn the sky green for some reason (and had an infinite budget to work with), then one way to do it would be to release a fine, translucent green powder in the upper atmosphere in large quantities. (This might cause problems when it began to drift down far enough that it can be breathed in, of course). Alternatively, I could encase the planet Earth in a solid shell of green glass.
Please explain, then, without using the word ‘sky’, what exactly you mean by “turning the sky green”.
I had parsed that as “ensuring that a person, looking upwards during the daytime and not seeing an intervening obstacle (such as a ceiling, an aeroplane, or a cloud) would honestly identify the colour that he sees as ‘green’.” It is now evident that this is not what you had meant by the phrase.
The only reason I see blue when I look up during the daytime at something higher than a ceiling, an airplane, or a cloud, is because the atmosphere is composed of reflective blue material (air) intervening between me and the darkness of space. I would still like an explanation from the great-great-grandparent as to what constitutes ‘turning the sky green’.
If I wanted to turn the sky green for some reason (and had an infinite budget to work with), then one way to do it would be to release a fine, translucent green powder in the upper atmosphere in large quantities. (This might cause problems when it began to drift down far enough that it can be breathed in, of course). Alternatively, I could encase the planet Earth in a solid shell of green glass.
In which case you have merely placed reflective green material in the atmosphere. You have not actually turned the sky green.
Please explain, then, without using the word ‘sky’, what exactly you mean by “turning the sky green”.
I had parsed that as “ensuring that a person, looking upwards during the daytime and not seeing an intervening obstacle (such as a ceiling, an aeroplane, or a cloud) would honestly identify the colour that he sees as ‘green’.” It is now evident that this is not what you had meant by the phrase.
That would depend on whether a green shell of glass or a green particle counts as an intervening obstacle.
Do you know, I hadn’t even thought of that?
You are perfectly correct, and I thank you for raising the question.
The only reason I see blue when I look up during the daytime at something higher than a ceiling, an airplane, or a cloud, is because the atmosphere is composed of reflective blue material (air) intervening between me and the darkness of space. I would still like an explanation from the great-great-grandparent as to what constitutes ‘turning the sky green’.