The expression “seeing the sky in diamonds” – a promise of happiness and a better life – may become humanity’s main hope to survive on a warming Earth. For a long time, sulfur dioxide was considered the best candidate for the role of a sun-reflecting screen for the planet. However, it has so many side effects that sulfur dioxide can only be used out of desperation, which cannot be said about diamonds, which scientists have considered the best candidates for saving the planet.
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A team of researchers led by climate scientist Sandro Vattioni from ETH Zurich ran simulations to find the best materials for a global cooling technique called stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI), and found that diamond nanoparticles cost A few hundred trillion dollars should do the job best.
To date, a number of seven candidates have emerged for the role of planet coolers – these are two types of titanium oxide, aluminum oxide, calcite, diamonds, silicon carbide and sulfur dioxide. The best studied is the possible influence of sulfur dioxide on climate – this substance is emitted in excess into the atmosphere by volcanoes. At the same time, many negative side factors, including the provocation of acid rain, make one refrain from immediately using this substance.
Scientists from Zurich re-introduced data on the motion, chemical behavior, and thermodynamic properties of all seven candidate aerosols for the global reflection of sunlight from the Earth’s atmosphere into climate models and concluded that 5 million tons of diamonds each 150 nm wide could protect the planet from rising temperature.
Nanodiamonds will not stick together like other candidates, which can lead to the opposite (greenhouse) effect, and will also remain suspended in the air for a long time – they are not prone to falling out or are not as affected by this compared to other candidates. Also, nanodiamonds are chemically neutral and do not form chemical compounds in the presence of moisture in the air.
The use of nanodiamonds will increase the cost of materials for an aerosol project to cool the Earth by at least three orders of magnitude. Fortunately, today no one is rushing to fill the sky with diamonds, sulfur dioxide or anything else. These are projects just in case the climate disaster reaches extremes. But you need to know about such a possibility in advance so that you can slowly discuss it in the scientific community.