Scienceclimate Change News

"Testing Solar Geoengineering to Combat Rising Temperatures and Cool the Earth"

Scientists are exploring the idea of cooling the Earth by injecting seawater droplets into clouds to increase their reflectivity and offset global warming caused by increased CO2 levels. Efforts to reduce pollution from ship exhaust using particles have brightened clouds enough to offset 5% of climate warming, but now researchers are focusing on using sea salt aerosols for cloud brightening. A $10 million Solar Radiation Modification experiment has been launched to study the effects of creating salt particles of the right size and number to potentially cool the Earth, with the hope of understanding the real-world implications before cloud brightening becomes a necessity.