A number of initiatives, some debatable, “against climate change”, are both phantasmagorical and dangerous. It is about the “darkening of the sun”.

The authors of this idea claim that by reducing the light coming from the Sun, it would be possible to achieve cooling of the Earth. And the researchers’ idea is now supported by the US government.

A 44-page report released by the US government on Friday details the controversial Solar Radiation Management (SRM) plan. The June 2023 report is entitled CONGRESS-MANDATED RESEARCH PLAN AND INITIAL FRAMEWORK FOR GOVERNING SOLAR RADIATION MODIFICATION RESEARCH. The report is available on the official White House website.

Cooling methods

In total, the report would have mentioned five possible methods of cooling the Earth. However, for this so-called “geoengineering” to determine the methods by which modern technology can prevent some of the solar radiation from reaching the Earth’s surface, two methods are mainly considered:

1) Injection of aerosols, sulfur oxide particles, into the stratosphere. They can reflect sunlight off the Earth. An increase in the amount of aerosols in the stratosphere (similar to a volcanic eruption) will result in less radiation reaching the Earth’s surface

2) Whitening of sea clouds by the introduction of sea salt

The White House now says it is in principle favorable to those possibilities. According to a report cited by BILD.de, a “research program on the scientific and social impact of solar radiation modification (SRM)” is now to examine the risks and benefits.

Technology back and forth

With this, the US government accepts the idea of ​​using “this extremely risky technology,” climate expert Professor Mojib Latif of the Geomar Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research in Kiel told BILD.

Scientists have long dismissed the SRM plan as too risky and too expensive. “I would describe the beginning as a disaster,” says Latif. “The Earth system is too complex to test. But now here comes the White House saying yes to this madness.”

“There are a number of side effects that cannot be estimated. For example, the ozone layer can be damaged.” In addition, it is impossible to simply stop everything once you have started, explains the German expert. “This needs continuity over centuries to avoid spontaneous re-heating of the earth because CO₂ stays in the atmosphere for so long.”

Latif also believes that the whole problem has an economic dimension (preserving the exploitation of fossil fuels), but also a political dimension: “A country that has this technology can also use it as a weapon. It could, for example, overshadow other countries.”