The Earth's surface would be gently shaded by a cloud of small sulphur
dioxide particles that would be released by a fleet of 125 military
air-to-air refueling tankers at an altitude of 43,000ft (13km) and a
latitude of 60 degrees in both hemispheres.
A contentious plan to refreeze the North and South Poles and lower the
world thermostat has been proposed by scientists.
They claim that in order to deflect sunlight and slow the melting of the
icecaps, high-flying planes might spray small aerosol particles into the
sky.
Millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide would be released annually from around
175,000 flights.
The ideas, however, were supported by a former UK top scientist who told
Sky News that Arctic warming is now a serious problem and that refreezing
the ice might slow the increase of the world's water levels.
Wake Smith of Yale University in the United States served as the study's
principal investigator.
He forewarned that the strategy will only address a significant symptom of
climate change and not its root.
According to the plan, a fleet of 125 military air-to-air refueling tankers
would release a cloud of microscopic sulphur dioxide particles at an
altitude of 43,000ft (13km) and latitude of 60 degrees in both hemispheres,
roughly equivalent to the Shetland Islands in the north and the Falklands in
the south. "It's aspirin, not penicillin. It's not a substitute for
decarbonization," he
On winds from high altitudes, the particles would slowly move in the
direction of the poles, faintly shadowing the Earth's surface.
According to research published in the academic journal Environmental
Research Communications, just over 13m tonnes of particles released in the
spring and summer would be sufficient to cool the polar regions by 2C, with
more moderate cooling at mid-latitudes. The plan is controversial, not least
because the significant number of flights - equivalent to more than two days
of global air traffic in 2021 - would release greenhouse gases into the
upper atmosphere where they are masked by ozone.
Because sun shading may have unforeseen repercussions, such as lowering
agricultural yields, other experts are similarly wary of implementing
it.
Following objections from environmentalists, a plan to discharge particles
from a balloon in northern Sweden last year was scrapped. A comprehensive
release program would require worldwide consensus.
However, according to the researchers, just 1% of people reside in the
target deployment zone. Additionally, they note that the £10 billion program
cost would be a lot less than the cost of carbon capture or other methods of
reducing or adjusting to climate change.
The poles would be the place where the risk-benefit calculation would work
out, according to Mr. Smith.
Any deliberate adjustment of the world thermostat would be of interest to
everyone.
Record-breaking heatwaves were observed in both the Arctic and the
Antarctic earlier this year, indicating that the poles are warming several
times faster than the world average.
Sea levels will increase by many meters if the enormous Greenland and West
Antarctic ice sheets hit a tipping point, which is currently considered
plausible based on current forecasts of global warming.
Radical action is required to rescue polar ice, according to Sir David
King, a former government senior scientist and the head of the Centre for
Climate Repair (CCR) at Cambridge University.
He said, "We are there, right now.
"The goal is to gain time while drastically and quickly reducing greenhouse
gas emissions.
"That is crucial. We are doomed if we continue to emit at this rate."
The CCR's director, Dr. Shaun Fitzgerald, claimed that the many flights may
be justified if they addressed the urgent issue of sea-level rising.
"Although using aircraft is not pleasant at all, the effects of those
greenhouse gases are more long-lasting.
"It's absolutely vital that we address the implications (of climate change)
immediately."
With a fleet of ships pouring saltwater into the atmosphere, the CCR is
developing a plan in its laboratories to lighten clouds over the Arctic
Ocean. Ice in the area would be cooled by the clouds' reflection of sunlight
back into space.
The CCR is in favor of a global geoengineering ban until tests have
demonstrated its safety and there is consensus that its usage is urgently
required.
