Every year, summers are hotter than the last, with winters and springs breaking temperature records. Climate zones are changing, affecting even things like coffee, which has become more expensive due to drought in South America.

Humanity is looking for ways to solve the problem of climate change – switching to renewable energy, switching to nuclear energy, switching to electric cars, etc. But not all of them bring quick results.

A radical plan to launch particles that reflect sunlight into the atmosphere and thus reduce temperatures was proposed by scientists from Harvard University in the USA. However, the project was eventually abandoned. 24 Channels It tells everything that is known about the idea of ​​scientists.

What did the scientists plan to do in the experiment and who prevented them?

In 2017, Harvard scientists launched a project called SCoPEx (Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment). The aim was to test and understand the theory that shooting reflective particles into the atmosphere would lower the temperature. Such an experiment belongs to the field of solar geoengineering.

The experiment was planned to be conducted outdoors; scientists would release an aerosol from a balloon and then pass it through a cloud of particles for measurements. The aim of the experiment was to observe the interaction of particles and the environment. After that, the scientists planned to create more accurate computer models.

Harvard University / Photo: Harvard University

A test launch without aerosol emissions was supposed to take place in Sweden in 2021, but this never happened. The experiment was cancelled due to protests from the Sámi, the indigenous leaders. The SCoPEx advisory committee disagreed on whether the Sámi should be included in the discussion of the project’s results, as nothing would be launched during the test flight.

Who are the Semites?

The Swedish Sami are one of Sweden’s ethnic minorities. The population is 17,000–20,000, living mostly in the fiefs (administrative-territorial units in Sweden) of Norrbotten and Västerbotten. The Sami have a Sami Council and a cultural self-government body – the Sami Parliament, as well as their own language.

What is the problem of particle injection into the atmosphere?

The Sami council’s response was strong, with its members sending a strongly worded letter to the SCoPEx advisory committee demanding the test flight be cancelled. The letters were also signed by local organisations Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth.

In our opinion, solar geoengineering using reflective particles is a technology that carries with it catastrophic risks… There is therefore no acceptable reason why the SCoPEx project should be allowed to be carried out in Sweden or elsewhere.
– says the letter of the Sami Council.

But the letter had a consequence; the SCoPEx advisory committee then recommended that the test flight in Sweden be cancelled. In 2023, Harvard University announced that the project was on hold, and in March 2024, it was cancelled altogether.

I am grateful for the findings of the SCoPEx Advisory Committee. Their thoughtful analysis is valuable to the scientific community as it addresses important management issues.
Frank Koich, principal investigator at SCoPEx, told The Verge:

Solving the ethical issue of climate change and combating it requires broader participation from society. After all, you can’t conduct large-scale experiments on the planet without informing people.

Saami Council / Photo: Saami Council, X

One of the main takeaways from the story about SCoPEx is that public participation is necessary, even if you don’t think the impact of the experiment will be tangibly felt in real time. This issue is of great importance and significance to many people.
— The Verge quotes Sikina Jinna, professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

What other experiments are there?

The idea of ​​reflective particles was first floated in the United States in 1965 during the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The President’s Scientific Advisory Committee then presented a plan to restore the quality of the environment. In this statement, scientists warned of the devastating consequences of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and recommended increasing the Earth’s albedo to cope with warming.

Solar geoengineering has been talked about every decade — in the USSR, where it was proposed to spray sulfur from airplanes in the 1970s, and in the US. In the 21st century, researchers from Silicon Valley have also taken up the theory. Last year, a two-person geoengineering startup, Make Sunsets, launched three reflective particle balloons from Nevada. The startups say they have approval from the US aviation regulator FAA and local authorities, but officials say they have not given the green light for flights.

Make Sunsets partners Luke Eiseman and Andrew Song previously angered authorities who promised to ban geoengineering experiments in the country by launching balloons from Baja California, Mexico. Eiseman and Song’s work resembles amateur work; as Time reported in February 2023, they assembled the unit in a hotel room in Nevada using components purchased from a hypermarket. Burnt sulfur-based fungicide was used as a gas with reflective particles. The next experiment involved burning the fungicide on a grill in an open parking lot — the resulting gas was collected in garbage bags and then “packaged” into balloons and launched.

Luke Eiseman and Andrew Song / Photo: Balazs Gardi, Time

The sulfur dioxide-launched cannons’ mission, Eiseman says, is to “go up, explode, biodegrade, save the world.” In an article on his Make Sunsets blog, Song describes his work as “a secret weapon in the fight against global warming.”

Sulfur aerosols can persist in the stratosphere for several years, continuously reflecting sunlight and producing a cooling effect. The extent and duration of this cooling effect depends on the number of aerosols injected, their size, and their distribution in the stratosphere.
– the article says.

The startup promises positive results such as:

• decrease in global temperature;
• reducing extreme weather events;
• increasing agricultural productivity, supporting food security and the global economy.

There are also risks mentioned, such as ozone depletion and unpredictable weather effects. Song simply states that by “continuing to research and develop this technology,” the startup will find ways to reduce or even eliminate these risks.

In addition to natural risks, other controversial issues of solar geoengineering can be summarized. If a large project like SCoPEx faces misunderstanding from the local population, Make Sunsets conducts its experiments without involving the public at all. This has already been condemned by climate activists from the Silver Lining organization, who said that the Make Sunsets experiment is reckless, baseless, and fraudulent. In addition, the administration of the President of the United States has so far coolly evaluated solar geoengineering as a method to combat global warming.