CNBC has reported that the White House will be officially leading a five-year research plan to judge the feasibility of so-called “solar geoengineering.”
However, sunlight-blocking has multiple issues associated that can negatively affect humans and the environment.
“Sunlight reflection has the potential to safeguard the livelihoods of billions of people, and it’s a sign of the White House’s leadership that they’re advancing the research so that any future decisions can be rooted in science, not geopolitical brinkmanship,” Chris Sacca, founder of the climate tech investment fund Lowercarbon Capital, told CNBC.
A plan like this was also proposed at the time of President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. It was decided to spray the ocean with reflective particles at the cost of $500 million per year. Today, the same expense is $10 billion.
One major component of stratospheric aerosol injection is sulfur dioxide. However, sulfur dioxide is polluting. Thus, some suggest applying marine cloud brightening, a process in which the reflectivity of clouds is increased by injecting them with sea salt.
Janos Pasztor, executive director of the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative, stated that “You cannot judge what the country does on solar-radiation modification without looking at what it is doing in emission reductions, because the priority is emission reductions,” Pasztor told CNBC. “Solar-radiation modification will never be a solution to the climate crisis.”
Solar geoengineering might also turn out to be successful. Still, it doesn’t compensate for cutting down emissions. In the end, it is still not sure what will be the outcome of such practices. They might include acid rain and respiratory illness in the case of using sulfur dioxide.
