Penthara IV, covered in plasmaOnce again plasma comes to the rescue in the 24th century! In order to save the colony on the planet Penthara IV from a devastating ice age (an asteroid has hit the planet, filling the atmosphere with dust) the Enterprise tries various means, including adding CO2 from underground pockets into the atmosphere. Mixing rates are surprisingly high in this planet's atmosphere, since mere minutes after drilling for the gas elevated CO2 levels are seen in the upper atmosphere. This, after predicting a 10-12°C global temperature drop within 10 days of the impact! This planet's climate seems too unstable for me, I would probably choose to settle elsewhere.
The plasma comes in after enhanced volcanism spews yet more dust into the atmosphere. Somehow it all becomes ionized, and the Enterprise uses its phasers to convert all of this dust into plasma and then suck it off into space. Of course it worked, but failure would have meant incineration of the planet's atmosphere and (I assume) everything else on the surface. But, no ice age!
Follow the Penthara IV link for a better recap. My favorite parts are when they choose CO2 boreholes based on tectonic stability, since no earthquakes have been recorded for "nearly 100 years" (!!!). Then, when the earthquakes come, they estimate their magnitudes on the Richter scale (!!!). Richter can rest easy, his scale is back in vogue in the 24th century.
