The essence of solar geoengineering is to block small amounts of sunlight in one way or another to reduce the amount of heat reaching the Earth. This is proposed to be done by spraying chalk or various chemicals into the atmosphere, such as sulfur dioxide, which would reflect light back into space and thus cool the planet. But in a new study, scientists concluded that injecting sulfate particles (which contain sulfur dioxide) could cause even more warming if they go to the wrong place. This way we can create even worse climate anomalies.

Threats

We found that some of the harmful effects of this injection in some regions are similar to the effects of climate change.
– writes scientist Elia Wunderlin from the Zurich Higher Technical School in Switzerland in the article.

The team used aerosol-chemical climate models and principles of microphysics to simulate the behavior of sulfate aerosols when injected into the stratosphere above equatorial latitudes.

The equator has previously been identified as the target region because aerosols remain in the air the longest.

“We confirm that cooling efficiency will decrease as the injection rate increases”– researchers write.

However, also in the subtropical stratosphere Strong heating will occur due to the sulfate absorbing long wave heat.Emitted by the Earth’s surface.

If greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase during this time, weather systems in the Northern Hemisphere will become more extreme in winter, changing the way the two layers of the atmosphere (stratosphere and troposphere) interact.

This warming significantly affects the meridional temperature gradient in the stratosphere, thus affecting zonal winds, the ozone layer, the transport of water vapor from the troposphere, [навіть спричиняючи більші аномалії, ніж безперервні викиди парникових газів],
– says Wunderlin.

Increased aerosol concentrations in the stratosphere may make the movement of atmospheric chemicals (including aerosols) occur biennially rather than on an annual cycle. Models show that the increase in the thickness of the aerosol layer in the stratosphere, weakening of stratospheric winds, which extends the duration of the natural cycle. This proves the ability of aerosols to modulate their transport paths and residence times in the stratosphere.

The consequences of such a cyclical change It will have major impacts on weather conditionsIncluding increased flood risks in Europe.

The team suggests that other potential aerosols could be explored to alleviate some of these problems, such as those that do not absorb heat from the Earth’s surface or calcite that would not interfere with the ozone layer. However, scientists warn that these may create other, as yet unknown, problems that require further research.

Their findings add to a growing list of studies highlighting the risks of forced geoengineering, including speculation about the loss of much of the ozone layer, changes in global precipitation patterns, global cooling and subsequent disruption of ecological systems.