We’re talking about solar geoengineering. This method consists of regularly spraying special substances such as chalk or sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight back into space. In this way, less heat will enter the planet and it will be possible to cool it. There are both supporters of this idea and those who fear its implementation. The first involves several groups of scientists, some funded by Bill Gates, as well as a startup called Make Sunsets, which managed to test launching a dioxide balloon into the Mexican sky before the country’s authorities found out and banned it. experiment. Additionally, the White House has been actively investigating this issue lately. However, there are many scientists who fear the implementation of such projects, citing its danger, lack of research and uncontrollability.

Prisoner Antarctica

Climate warming has accelerated the melting of Antarctica so much that scientists and politicians have returned to the old idea of ​​geoengineering. But a team of scientists from Switzerland and England published a new study showing that: this method will have limited effect in delaying the melting of ice.

The research team used computer simulations to analyze the effectiveness of solar geoengineering, which they call “solar radiation management,” on the melting rate of the West Antarctic ice sheet under different climate scenarios.

Observations of ice flows in West Antarctica indicate that we are very close to or have already passed the so-called tipping point. Therefore, in our study, we wanted to find out whether it is theoretically possible to prevent the ice sheet from disappearing by managing solar radiation.
– says the lead author of the article, researcher Johannes Sutter from the University of Bern.

With no visible efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, scientists have concluded that blasting sun-darkening particles into the atmosphere by the middle of this century will only delay the disappearance of the Antarctic ice sheet. If the world reduces or reduces greenhouse gas emissions to zero, solar geoengineering will “postpone or even cancel” the melting of the ice sheet.

The problem is probably that we have accumulated significant amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that trap heat. We will have to wait tens, even hundreds of years for them to disperse. Meanwhile, we continue to throw away more and more. So reducing sunlight without limiting emissions can only mitigate the impact.