In the case of Keutsch's experiment, the chemical will be calcium carbonate, which is essentially a chalk dust. Aim: dim the Sun. The arguments underlying these concerns are outside the scope of this article, but a central feature of misinformed reporting on SCoPEx involves conflating scientists' or activists' views on solar radiation management in general with fears about SCoPEx specifically. "People are right to fear over-reliance on technofixes. The meteor strike that might have killed the dinosaurs blanketed the Earth in a layer of aerosol dust. Calcium carbonate is a nontoxic chemical commonly found in nature. Major disruption of the global climate could bring unintended consequences, negatively impacting highly populated regions and engineering another refugee crisis. Improved understanding of these processes will help answer applied questions such as, is it possible to find aerosols that can reduce or eliminate ozone loss, without increasing other physical risks? Thunberg: Not too late to act in Climate fight, Climate Activist Greta Thunberg appeared virtually before a House subcommittee Thursday to call on U.S. officials to do more, saying it's "not too late" to make real changes in the fight against climate change. This process involves seeding the stratosphere with aerosols to reflect sunlight away. Two key aspects of this are Greenhouse Gas Removal . "We are not, for example, testing whether it's possible to scatter sunlight back to space, because there is no meaningful scientific uncertainty about that question.". Know what makes your body hoard aluminum? Neither is it desirable, ethical, or politically governable.. That's what the Harvard project, called the Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment, or SCoPEx, aims to fix. This group signs off on major research decisions and audits SCoPEx's finances. The claim that Gates is working on a way to block the sun's rays to prevent global warming isFALSE, based on our research. Geoengineering is the term for technologies that try to alter Earths physical qualities on the largest scale possible. An effort to dim the sun to stop global warming has been scrapped by the Swedish Space Agency, who announced that the program, funded by Bill Gates, has 'divided the scientific community' and will therefore not be carried out. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. In a future test, the team is planning to use a high-altitude balloon to lift a package holding calcium carbonate approximately 20 km into the atmosphere. "The laws governing Agenda 2030 land development allows the government to seize polluted lands and move their residents to smart cities., Bill Gates hatches 'horribly stupid' plan to block out the Sun - just like Mr Burns, Fund for Innovative Climate and Energy Research, New Report Says U.S. Should Cautiously Pursue Solar Geoengineering Research to Better Understand Options for Responding to Climate Change Risks, Stratospheric controlled perturbation experiment: a small-scale experiment to improve understanding of the risks of solar geoengineering, No, Bill Gates did not outline 2018 plan to depopulate the planet, No, the Gates Foundation isnt pushing microchips with all medical procedures, Bill Gates Will Have to Wait a While to Block the Sun, Bill Gates Is Thinking About Dimming the Sun, Claims that Bill Gates is going to block the sun lack context, Solar Geoengineering Should be Investigated, Scientists Say. The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia resulted in the year without a summer, while the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines lowered global average temperatures by 0.5 C. Deliberate introduction of similar particles could potentially counter decades of greenhouse gas emissions. This is geoengineerings addiction problem, often called its moral hazard. The proposed Harvard experiment would use a high-altitude balloon to lift instruments into the atmosphere and release aerosols. First, they point to the unknown risks: deploying solar geoengineering tech could backfire, potentially catastrophically. Instead, the balloon would test properties of the hardware and software needed for future trials, including propellers, power, data, navigation and the communication systems. RT @ToscaAusten: Bill Gates, farmer, philanthropist, climate cultist extraordinaire, and the newly invested multi-million dollar shareholder of Heineken, is dabbling in solar geoengineeringthe scientific process of bouncing the sun's rays back into space. Suggests a January traffic accident involving lab monkeys was responsible for spreading monkeypox to humans. It also has made him a frequent target for conspiracy theories. But there is no suggestion he. For one thing, the methods could have unintended consequences on global weather patterns. The Keutsch group planned its first test flight for June 2021, which would. After much investigation, the team settled on using calcium carbonatechalk, essentiallyas an ideal light-blocking particle. Gates and other private donors are supporting Harvard Universitys Solar Geoengineering Research Program, which had planned to launch a new study based in Sweden in June researching the efficacy of blocking sunlight from reaching Earths surface. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Early research suggests that the substance has near-ideal optical properties that would allow it to absorb far less radiation that sulfate aerosols, causing significantly less stratospheric heating. Impacts will vary across regions, and there are uncertainties about the effects on weather patterns, agriculture, and the provision of basic needs of food and water.. The world's richest man has provided at least $4.5 million of his own money over 3 years for the study of methods that could alter the stratosphere to reflect solar energy, techniques to filter carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere, and brighten . Her favorite topics include nuclear energy, cosmology, math of everyday things, and the philosophy of it all. It sounds very much like the plot of one science fiction movie in particularnamely Bong Joon-hos 2013 film Snowpiercer, in which scientists release aerosols into the sky in a desperate bid to stop rampant global warming. District of Columbia Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. Outdoor experiments can provide in situ perspective that is impossible to obtain in the laboratory and SCoPEx can help us validate important model parameters that have yet to been tested against measurements. For these reasons, and because SCoPEx does not from a factual standpoint actually dim or block the sun, we rate the claim that Gates is funding research that "would help block out the sun" as "Mostly False.". Scientists' concerns with solar radiation management generally fall into two categories: unknowns about potential unintended consequences in the global climate system, and the possibility such a solution, by providing a technological fix, would encourage further fossil fuel use in lieu of sustainable changes. Slippery-slope arguments aside, this is a far cry from an attempt to geoengineer the world. One example is cloud. As we see tha. Some people say you shouldn't even work on the insurance policy because it might make you lazy, that you'll keep eating because you know heart surgery will be there to save you. The full text of the Solar Geoengineering Non-Use Agreement can be read here. On the other hand we are expected to go to solar powered energy. You may need heart surgery or something. But theres another nightmare: Its that after bringing emissions to zero, we realize in hindsight that early use of geoengineering could have saved millions of lives lost in heat waves and helped preserve some of the natural world," Keith wrote in an op-ed published in the Boston Globe. "Bill Gates hatches 'horribly stupid' plan to block out the sun," says the headline on a Feb. 21 article on the Daily Star website. Aerosols are the gaseous clouds formed by particles of many common materials. This is the purpose of the experiment: once a safe, experimental amount of CaCO3 is released, the balloon will fly through it, sampling atmospheric reactions and recording resulting dynamics. Aerosols are the gaseous clouds. Instead, it will observe how particles interact with one another, with the background stratospheric air, and with solar and infrared radiation. It will only test the balloon, not release any aerosols. Although . Gates did not create such a plan. Some have alleged Gates wants to block the sun. Mount Merapi, 2,968 metres high, is known as one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia, with an eruption occurring every two to five years. Never far away from a plot to destroy, control and profiteer, since early last year Bill Gates and other private donors have funded Harvard University's Solar Geoengineering Research Program, SCoPEx, to study effective ways to block sunlight from reaching Earth's surface. To do so, scientists need to determine whether there are aerosols that could reduce or eliminate ozone loss without increasing the chance of other risks. Those responsible must be held to account or it will happen again and again until world government. Bill Gates is a popular target of conspiracy theories characterizing his charitable giving as evidence of a nefarious world domination scheme. Concerned groups want a clearer understanding of consequences before the launch. A doctor at the Mayo Clinic is misdiagnosing pregnancies of Trump supporters so they have abortions. But now, Harvard says its delaying the study to examine the impact on Sweden itself, as well as the indigenous Sami people who live in the region. The stories or tweets generally assert or imply that: Bill Gates is funding research that will literally dim the sun; that he "wants to" use this form of geoengineering as a tool to fight climate change; that SCoPEx specifically seeks to test the theory that "spraying particles into the atmosphere" can reduce warming; and that scientists think SCoPEx itself could produce global unintended consequences. Solar geoengineering is a subfield of geoengineering, which refers to efforts to alter the environment to limit the effects of climate change. Widespread research into the efficacy of solar geoengineering has been stalled for years due to controversy. The conservative news website The Western Journal reported in December last year that Gates' plan for the project included "blotting out the sun to make the world cooler," citing a Reuters report about the scientists applying for a test flight experiment in June 2021. Fluoride.. The project at issue in several sensationalized news stories, SCoPEx, is an experiment designed to collect data for the purpose of refining computer models that simulate solar radiation management, not to implement an actual test of the practice. Now, some social media users are claiming that billionaire Bill Gates is planning to spray dust into the atmosphere to "block the sun" as a way to combat global warming. In late December 2020, reacting to reporting from Reuters, the Western Journal published a story titled "Bill Gates' Savior Complex Spirals Out of Control, Funds Sun-Dimming Plan To Save the Human Race." Bill Gates, who recently suggested the world should eat 100 percent synthetic beef and said bitcoin is bad for the planet, has set his sights on a new foe: the sun. If successful, this could be a step towards a second experimental stage that would release a small amount of CaCO3 dust into the atmosphere. SCoPEx,and geoengineering in general,aresomewhat controversial. With assistance from Hayley Arlin and James Grant. False: The claim is demonstrably false. MSFT It can fully charge a 50Ah Battery from 50% in 3 hours. Geoengineering and Bill Gates blocking out the sun. If the world cannot slow emissions or the effects of climate change are more extreme or occur sooner than expected, there may be demands to pursue additional climate-intervention technologies about which scientists need a better understanding, National Academy of Sciences President Ralph J. Cicerone said in a news release for that report.Although riskier ideas to lessen the amount of energy absorbed from the sun should not be considered for deployment, they should be studied so that we can provide answers if someday these ideas begin to be considered in attempts to avert catastrophe.". ", Ultimately, Keith said that more study was needed, writing: "It would be crazy to start deploying solar geoengineering today. We do not approve legitimising development towards solar geoengineering technology, nor for it to be conducted in or above our lands, territories and skies, nor in any ecosystems anywhere, the signatories stated in a letter drafted by the Saami Council, which represents indigenous Saami people across Scandinavia and in Russia. .css-ow13hy{background-color:#1c6a65;color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:FreightSansW01,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;letter-spacing:0.03rem;padding:0.8125rem 1.25rem 0.9rem;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;text-decoration-color:#1c6a65;text-decoration-thickness:0.125rem;text-transform:uppercase;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;width:auto;}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-ow13hy{font-size:0.875rem;line-height:1;padding:0.7rem 1rem 0.75rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-ow13hy{padding:0.7rem 1rem 0.75rem;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-ow13hy{font-size:0.875rem;line-height:1;padding:0.8125rem 1.25rem 0.9rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-ow13hy{font-size:0.875rem;line-height:1;}}.css-ow13hy:focus-visible{outline-color:body-cta-btn-link-focus;}.css-ow13hy:hover{color:#fff;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;background-color:#000000;border:none;} Make your inbox more awesome. The speculative possibility of future solar geoengineering risks becoming a powerful argument for industry lobbyists, climate denialists, and some governments to delay decarbonization policies, the authors write. As previously detailed by Snopes, a fact-checking organization, the assertion is largely based on sensationalist reports about the scope and ability of the SCoPEx project. As noted by Nature in 2018, the concept in a broad sense is designed to spray particles into the stratosphere that may cool the planet by reflecting some of the Sun's rays. It is true that no one knows what will happen until the CaCO3 is released and then studied afterward. The UN document correctly indicates that volcanic eruptions sometimes fill the skies with ash or sulfur, dim the sun for years, and lead to measurable global cooling episodes. Scientists have postponed the billionaire-backed study of the controversial technology called solar geoengineering. The most commonly proposed method is to use aerosols "the gaseous clouds formed by particles of many common materials" because the physical structure of their particles blocks and scatters light, according to Popular Mechanics. Researcher Chris Field writes: Chapters in the report include the role of philanthropists like Gates, the goals of preparing future political decisionmakers, and the state of existing research about solar geoengineering. Since 2007, Bill Gates has funded research initiatives that, in part, provide grants for experiments related to solar radiation management a form of geoengineering controversially proposed.