Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
the atmosphere, by increasing cloud con-
densation nuclei in ocean clouds, in ef-
fect brightening the clouds and increasing
the solar radiation reflected back toward
space. Gates's money is reportedly fund-
ing the Silver Lining Project, to determine
whether sea water may be sprayed from
oceangoing vessels into low-level clouds to
accomplish the whitening of marine clouds.
Other proposals involve seeding the clouds
from airplanes or unmanned drones. The
Royal Society points out that this option
has the advantage that it could be quickly
stopped should unforeseen problems arise
and could be strategically employed for the
targeted cooling of certain areas.
tures. But there could be serious negative
ecological side effects, including a possible
decrease in the ozone layer, which was one
effect observed after the eruption of Mount
Pinatubo. In addition, there could be dev-
astating consequences for regional weather.
For instance, Luke Oman and his col-
leagues predict that the African and Asian
monsoon seasons could be changed, poten-
tially disrupting the food supply for billions
of people. Kevin Trenberth reported that
the eruption of Mount Pinatubo disrupted
the hydrological cycle and resulted in de-
creased precipitation.
With such potentially drastic environ-
mental impacts, why on earth would sci-
entists be considering distributing sulfate
aerosols into the stratosphere? In part, the
answer lies in an understanding among the
scientific community, and among climatol-
ogists in particular, that there is a potential
for cataclysmic climate change, and that the
political process may fail to make the policy
changes necessary to stave it off. Pumping
aerosols into the stratosphere is a compara-
tively cheap and potentially effective way
to cool temperatures worldwide. But this
plan, like all the solar radiation manage-
ment plans, would not decrease the grow-
ing ocean acidification problem, nor work to
reduce carbon dioxide one iota. Thus, were
we to employ the Mount Pinatubo solution
as an emergency fix for climate chaos, we
would have to continue to place particulates
in the stratosphere. If we stopped, the effect
would be like that of raising a curtain on a
back to aerosols
As mentioned at the start of this chapter,
another solar radiation management idea
is to pump aerosols into the stratosphere
to reflect sunlight back into space, a pro-
cess similar to what happens when a pow-
erful volcano explodes and sends dust high
into the atmosphere. Unlike the brighten-
ing of marine clouds, this approach would
have effects on a global scale. Sulfate aero-
sols can be introduced as gases and would
oxidize into particulates. Scientists have
proposed pumping these sulfates into the
stratosphere with long hoses, high-flying
aircraft, or artillery. Like volcanic mate-
rial, particulates injected into the strato-
sphere would ostensibly float around for a
couple of years, resulting in cooler tempera-
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