Sky News reports that a group of scientists has proposed to unleash massive amounts of microscopic aerosol chemicals from 125 massive military jets over the Earth’s North and South Poles to refreeze the melting ice caps.
To make an impact, we’d have to fly almost 175,000 flights of “high-flying spy planes and drones” every single year, according to a recent study led by Yale University researcher Wake Smith. Those jets would release huge amounts of carbon dioxide high up into the atmosphere.
“It’s aspirin, not penicillin,” he told Sky News. “It’s not a substitute for decarbonization.”
According to the plan, microscopic sulfur dioxide particles would be released from 125 air-to-air refueling tankers flying at 43,000 feet over the planet’s poles.
These particles would then block some sunlight from the surface below, protecting the polar regions from the Sun’s heat.
According to Smith’s study, just over 13 tons of particles released at just the right times of the year could cool the polar regions down by a sizeable 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
However, some experts think that releasing carbon dioxide emissions from planes flying at high altitudes is a horrendous idea.
According to Sky News, they also say that solar shading could have unintended consequences, including negative effects on agricultural systems.
“If the risk-benefit equation were to pay off anywhere, it would be at the poles,” Smith told Sky News. “Any intentional turning of the global thermostat would be of common interest to all of humanity.”
