Climate Engineering Tests Put On Hold

More commonly known as geoengineering, climate engineering is the 'science' of trying to manipulate the climate to reverse global warming. In an earlier blog, I said that I was against it. And I still am.

One of the many geoengineering ideas put forward is to cool the planet down by injecting sulphates into the stratosphere. It's thought that this would have a similar effect to large volcanic eruptions, which are known to have a temporary cooling effect on the world. You can read more about the theory here.

The reason I mention it is that, until a few days ago, a UK project was about to start testing the feasibility of this so-called stratospheric particle injection. This month they wanted to send a balloon up to a height of 1000 metres with a hose attached to it and spray water into the atmosphere. Sounds a bit basic but that's the appeal of this technique: It's low tech, cheap, and quick.

How about that? All our climate change problems solved for next to nothing. Almost too good to be true.

In fact, the project has been put on hold whilst they "consult stakeholders". Presumably because objections have been raised about the wisdom of the technique.

You see, there are a number of problems with it:

a) It does nothing about the underlying problem of carbon emissions. In fact, once they've started putting sulphates into the stratosphere, interest in cutting CO2 is likely to wither away. Which will mean that we will be forced to continue with sulphates for centuries because, as soon we stop, the climate will start warming again. Cooling the planet only solves one of the problems of CO2. For example, with CO2 still in our atmosphere ocean acidification will continue killing off our seas.

b) Once you put the sulphates up there, you have no control of where they go and what effect they will have. They may cause climatic disruption e.g. They may cause monsoons to fail in Africa and Asia. They could also contribute to ozone depletion. And, exactly how much do you put up there? How much, for example, will lower the average world temperature by 0.5C? The Earth's atmosphere is a complex, dynamic system that we're still struggling to understand, so it'll have to be guesswork. Do you feel comfortable with that?

c) Nobody knows what the long term effects of sulphate injection will be. It may mess with ecosystems, it may have unknown effects on plant-life, on us even. It's just one big experiment.

More here.