Phys.org November 22, 2021 Geoengineering using sulfuric acid would happen in the stratosphere. The major inputs for the creation of sulfuric acid are sulfur dioxide, hydroxyl radicals which create hydroxysulfonyl radical (HOSO2). This in turn reacts with oxygen to create sulfur trioxide (SO3) which results in sulfuric acid when it reacts with water. Aerosols formed from the sulfuric acid can reflect sunlight. These reactions create acid rain in the troposphere. If the same chemistry would work in the stratosphere is unknown. An international team of researchers (USA -University of Pennsylvania, Spain) has shown that the photodissociation of HOSO2 occurs primarily […]
Category Archives: Geoengineering
In Science magazine, scholars call for more comprehensive research into solar geoengineering
Phys.org November 11, 2021 As the prospect of average global warming exceeding 1.5°C becomes increasingly likely, interest in supplementing mitigation and adaptation with solar geoengineering (SG) responses will almost certainly rise. For example, stratospheric aerosol injection to cool the planet could offset some of the warming for a given accumulation of atmospheric greenhouse gases. However, the physical and social science literature on SG remains modest compared with mitigation and adaptation. An international team of researchers (USA – Harvard university, Duke University, research organization, American University, Georgia State University, UC San Diego, Yale University, NCAR, Duke University, Italy, India, Switzerland, Germany, […]
A new method to trigger rain where water is scarce
Phys.org May 6, 2021 Artificial charge release is an unexplored potential geoengineering technique for modifying fogs, clouds, and rainfall. To evaluate the effectiveness of the method an international team of researchers (UK, Finland) developed a small charge-delivering remotely piloted aircraft. It carried controllable bipolar charge emitters (nominal emission current ±5 μA) beneath each wing, with optical cloud and meteorological sensors integrated into the airframe. Meteorological and droplet measurements were demonstrated to 2 km altitude by comparison with a radiosonde, including within cloud, and successful charge emission aloft verified by using programmed flight paths above an upward-facing surface electric field mill. […]
Geoengineering is just a partial solution to fight climate change
Science Daily July 20, 2020 In theory, spraying sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere at different locations, to form sulfuric acid clouds that block some solar radiation, could be adjusted every year to keep global warming at levels set in the Paris goals. According to a team of researchers in the US (UC Davis, UC Berkeley) no single technology to combat climate change will fully address the growing crisis, and we need to stop burning fossil fuels and aggressively harness wind and solar energy to power society ASAP. The regional impacts of geoengineering, including on precipitation and the Antarctic ozone […]
Can solar geoengineering mitigate both climate change and income inequality?
Science Daily January 13, 2020 An international team of researchers (University of California, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of California, Cornell University, Switzerland, Canada) applied macroeconomic impact models and combined historical evidence with climate simulations of mean annual temperature and precipitation. They found that the impacts of climate changes on global GDP-per-capita by the end of the century are temperature-driven, highly dispersed, and model dependent. Across all model specifications, however, income inequality between countries is lower with solar geoengineering. They found that precipitation has little to no effect on GDP growth in our results, but there is a relationship for […]
Climate engineering: International meeting reveals tensions
Science Daily October 28, 2019 The “hidden politics” of climate engineering were partially revealed earlier this year at the fourth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-4), when Switzerland proposed a resolution on geoengineering governance. According to a team of researchers in the US (UC Santa Cruz, American University) there are several areas of concern, including: Disagreement among countries about the current state and strength of SRM governance, The domination of research by North American and European scientists, The need to “decouple” governance of SRM and CDR and a significant split between the United States and the European Union over the “precautionary […]
Chaos theory produces map for predicting paths of particles emitted into the atmosphere
Eurekalert July 16, 2019 Floating air particles following disasters and other largescale geological events can have a lasting impact on life on Earth. Using available wind data, researchers in Hungary have developed a model for following air particles as they travel around the globe. They found that lifetimes of particles ranged from about two to 150 days for typical volcanic ash particles, more than 10% of smaller particles survive in the atmosphere as much as one year, and more than 1% survive two years, particles coming from the area around the equator remain in the atmosphere for the longest time, […]
Scientists Are Scared a ‘Rogue’ Country Could Start a Geoengineering War
Science Alert June 14, 2019 A recent report by the United Nations’ PIPCC found that nations around the globe must implement “rapid and far-reaching” changes in energy sources, infrastructure, industry, and transportation to avoid catastrophic consequences of climate change. But some researchers are looking into geoengineering to address the dangerous warming. If a rogue nation were to start a geoengineering project without international oversight or buy-in, some experts worry the unintended consequences could lead to war. Geoengineering can take many forms, some of which exist already…read more.
Future of planet-cooling tech: Study creates roadmap for geoengineering research
Science Daily January 8, 2019 A team of researchers in the US (Cornell University, Caltech, PNNL) established a roadmap for responsible exploration of geoengineering. They focus on the idea of stratospheric aerosol geoengineering mimicking the eruption of a volcano. They highlight two important observations, while field experiments may eventually be needed to reduce some of the uncertainties, they expect that the next phase of research will continue to be primarily model-based, and they anticipate a clear separation in scale and character between small-scale experimental research to resolve specific process uncertainties and global-scale activities…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Harvard Scientists Will Actually Launch a Geoengineering Experiment Next Year
Science Alert December 4, 2018 The project – called the Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (SCoPEx) – is part of Harvard’s Solar Geoengineering Research Program. To cool down the surface of the planet, in the experiment Harvard University researchers will fly a high-altitude balloon up to the stratosphere, at an altitude of about 20 kilometres, and release a small aerosol plume of calcium carbonate that is expected to disperse into a perturbed air mass about 1 kilometre long and 100 metres in diameter. The balloon will then fly back and forth through this cloud repeatedly for about 24 hours, analysing the […]