Only the other day this site reported on the news that some scientists are being provided with taxpayer funds to bankroll a project to suck carbon out of the sea in a bizarre BBC story that confused carbon and carbon dioxide.
It seems that’s not the only such initiative to enjoy the benefits of taxpayer funds. The Telegraph has a story about the imminent announcement by the Government to give the go ahead for experiments to blot out the Sun. The £50 million provided makes the £3 million for the sea carbon project look like pocket money:
Outdoor field trials which could include injecting aerosols into the atmosphere, or brightening clouds to reflect sunshine, are being considered by scientists as a way to prevent runaway climate change.
Aria, the Government’s advanced research and invention funding agency, has set aside £50 million for projects, which will be announced in the coming weeks.
Prof Mark Symes, the Programme Director for Aria (Advanced Research and Invention Agency), said there would be “small controlled outdoor experiments on particular approaches”.
Of course, the danger is side effects, but such concerns are apparently brushed aside in the race to collapse carbon dioxide levels:
Geoengineering projects which seek to artificially alter the climate have proven controversial, with critics arguing they could bring damaging knock-on effects, as well as being an unhelpful distraction from lowering emissions.
However, scientists are increasingly concerned that carbon dioxide levels are not falling fast enough and that further action may be needed to prevent catastrophic warming.
One major area of research is Sunlight Reflection Methods (SRM), which includes Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI) whereby tiny particles are released into the stratosphere to reflect sunlight.
Another potential solution is Marine Cloud Brightening (MCB) in which ships would spray sea-salt particles into the sky to enhance the reflectivity of low-lying clouds.
Believe it or not, scientists have been ironically inspired by pollution from shipping fumes which in the past caused cooling, but now their sulphur dioxide emissions have been controlled, global warming has increased. Undaunted by the evidence that meddling with such matters might make things worse, the next plan is to start deliberately inserting reflective particles into cloud:
Prof Jim Haywood, of Atmospheric Science, at the University of Exeter, said: “If you inject small particles into clouds, you can brighten them hence reflecting more sunlight back out to space.
“How do we know this could work? Well there are a couple of very strong pieces of evidence.
“Ship emissions from the smoke stack into the marine environment lead to bright lines in clouds over the ocean.
“Then there was a volcanic eruption in Iceland in 2014 which spilled out a lot of sulphur dioxide. What this does is it brightens clouds and cools the planet. What we need to do is some form of field experiments.”
Cirrus clouds and aviation are on the radar:
Other ideas for geoengineering include seeding cirrus clouds to allow more heat to escape into space. Currently, the wispy high-altitude clouds act as a blanket, trapping in heat.
Dr Sebastian Eastham, a senior lecturer in Sustainable Aviation at Imperial College London, said: “Every time you fly, sulphur, which is naturally present in jet fuel, is emitted into the lower most stratosphere causing a small cooling effect.
“Similarly, aircraft contrails cause accidental cirrus cloud modification but in this case accidentally causing, rather than preventing or thinning, cirrus clouds.
“This points to the fact that it’s theoretically possible (to cool the planet) with current day technology but there are many practical questions that would need to be answered before they could be done at scale.”
Let’s hope he reads Snowpiercer first, the plot of which is summarised on Wikipedia here:
In 2014, an attempt to stop climate change via stratospheric aerosol injection catastrophically backfires, creating a new ice age that destroys much of life on Earth. For 17 years, the remnants of humanity shelter in a state-of-the-art self-sustaining circumnavigational train, the Snowpiercer, run by reclusive transportation magnate Wilford. The passengers on the train are segregated, with the elite in the extravagant front cars and the poor crammed into squalid tail compartments overseen by armed guards.
Another story worth reading is Arthur C. Clarke’s History Lesson (1949) when the Earth enters a final ice age and the human race is wiped out. One of the strange things about science fiction is that it so often turns out to be true.
The Telegraph’s story is worth reading in full.
Stop Press: BBC Radio 4’s World at One today featured Dr Sebastian Eastham (see above). Presenter Sarah Montague challenged him on unintended side effects. You can listen to the interview here. Spin through to 35:15 in.
Stop Press 2: Were the scientists inspired by the Simpsons and Monty Burns’s Sun Blocker?
The Sun Blocker was a device developed by Charles Montgomery Burns. As the name suggests, it was created to blot out the sun outside, in order to ensure Mr Burns’s electricity was sold in a monopoly, covering Springfield in perpetual darkness otherwise.
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