Scientists have called for a ban on experiments to artificially cool the Earth

Despite growing concerns about global warming, authorities in the US, EU and even the UN are skeptical about attempts to artificially cool the Earth. All of them, to one degree or another, rely on the conclusions of specialized scientists. In particular, at the request of the European Commission, a document was published with a fresh assessment of geoengineering projects, which was prepared by EC scientific consultants. On the advice of scientists, the EU should introduce a moratorium on large-scale geoengineering projects.

Image source: NASA

According to scientists, first of all, it is necessary to ban projects aimed at reflecting solar radiation into space. From the point of view of the development of earthly civilization, today this is possible in two ways: firstly, by spraying an aerosol of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) into the upper layers of the atmosphere, and secondly, by brightening sea clouds. Both technologies have been operating in nature for billions of years, so they are definitely capable of influencing the planet’s climate. They just need help – to direct this process in the right direction. For example, artificially adding SO₂ to the haze created by volcanoes, or increasing the salt content in clouds over seas and oceans.

After careful consideration of these and other proposals for reducing insolation of the earth’s surface, the Group of Chief Scientific Advisers (GCSA) and the European Group on Ethics in Science and Emerging Technologies (EGE) concluded that there is not yet convincing scientific evidence supporting the ability of these technologies to achieve their claims. promises.

«Given the very high level of scientific and technical uncertainty that currently exists, as well as the potentially harmful impacts, we advocate a moratorium on all large-scale experiments and implementation [of solar geoengineering],” EGE concluded.

Sulfur dioxide, in addition to its ability to reflect sunlight, causes acid rain and can threaten human health and vegetation. There is also uncertainty about how reduced sunlight will affect flora and fauna.

Image source: Make Sunsets

Even small-scale projects face trust issues. Thus, the initiative of the American startup Make Sunsets to launch meteorological balloons with sulfur dioxide in the skies over Mexico caused a negative reaction from the public and authorities, which led to a ban on any geoengineering activities in this country. However, Make Sunsets later launched balloons into the skies over the US, although they may have been empty and only used to attract attention. The company offers to buy climate credits for $10 per 1 g of sulfur dioxide, citing its contribution to reducing global warming. EU scientists warn against allowing such practices in Europe.

An equally loud scandal occurred in Europe when Harvard scientists intended to spray a reflective aerosol in the skies over Sweden to conduct the world’s first scientifically based experiment on cooling the Earth. However, the local indigenous population – the Sami – sharply opposed the project, and it was cancelled.

Even if we begin to implement geoengineering projects to cool the Earth, this will only be a temporary solution to the problem. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases will continue to be released in industry, transport and everyday life. Cooling the Earth will not solve the problem of ocean acidification and excess carbon in the atmosphere. Therefore, it is important to solve the emissions problem at its source, rather than eliminate the consequences.

The main message of scientists to the EU authorities is the urgent need to develop strict regulation in the field of geoengineering. Some basis has already been laid in a number of UN documents, as well as US and EU legislation. However, this is not enough – we need both a local and an international package of documents regulating this area. The sooner they are developed, the better. However, the European Commission should continue to evaluate new solar geoengineering research every five to ten years to ensure that potentially important and promising developments are not missed.