Geoengineering — hacking Earth ’s climate system to rescind world warming — often sounds a bit nonsensical , whether we ’re talking about deploy gargantuan place mirrors ordumping a bunch of iron filing into the sea . The belated proposal ? Dusting the stratosphere with billions of clam deserving of powdered diamond .
Yes , you heard that right field . It might actually be meter to move to Mars .
The new diamonds - in - the - sky geoengineering schema is n’t the work of crackpots . It amount from a squad of respected Harvard scientists , and it waspublished this weekin the peer - survey daybook Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics . What ’s more , it could actually work . It ’s actually a variation on another idea geoengineering proponents have tossed around for geezerhood — spraying sulfate aerosol into the stratosphere to contemplate and scatter the sun ’s energy .
It’s Not a New Idea
The idea of cool down the planet with sulphate was exalt by the reflexion that heavy volcanic eruptions often have arapid and striking cooling effecton Earth ’s mood . Among other things , these eruptions eruct tremendous amount of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere . atomic number 16 dioxide spreads around the world quickly , make a haze that blocks incoming sunshine . If volcanoes are doing this naturally , ca n’t we just mime that process to unwrap some of the global heating damage we ’ve caused ?
mayhap , but maybe not . Off the bat , there are a few big problems . First , sulfates oppose with other chemical in the stratosphere to develop sulfuric Elvis , which can damage ozone . And we ’d really like to keep our ozone layer — it ’s our first line of defense team against the most harmful shape of solar radiation . secondly , while sulfate aerosols are prefigure to disperse incoming sunlight , they could also heat up the lower stratosphere , with untold feedback effects on atmospheric circulation patterns . In short , this idea might act upon , but it might altogether recoil and we wo n’t get it on until we try .
Shine Bright Like a Diamond
According to Debra Weisenstein , a carbon monoxide - author on the new study , dusting the stratosphere with solid , micromillimeter - sized atomic number 13 oxide or diamond particles poses fewer danger than sulfate — for starters , these speck would n’t produce nasty sulfuric loony toons . What ’s more , the unexampled cogitation show that diamond rubble would be at least 50 % more effective at scattering incoming solar radiotherapy .
But like all geoengineering proposals before it , this latest one is premised on conducting a global experiment on our major planet ’s mood arrangement , one with potentially far more dramatic consequences than the worldwide climate experiment we ’re already in the midst of . And as io9 ’s George Dvorsky put it , once we start geohacking the planet , we wo n’t be capable to stop .
WritesNature News :
The scientist admonish , however , that both alumina and ball field nanoparticles carry unsung risks . sulfate are reasonably well understood , thanks to research on volcanoes . By direct contrast , the chemistry of the unanimous particles — such as how their open catalyse chemical reactions — is not as clear , although the Harvard researchers are doing laboratory test to remediate that .
There’s an Easier Fix
Here ’s another thought : Why do n’t we put the 1000000000000 of buck it would take to fill the stratosphere with diamond toward developing renewable energy sources and wean ourselves off fossil fuels ? That ’s arguably a much good course of action , and advance toward the goal of a low - carbon future is already well underway .
grant to areportby the International Energy Agency , renewable vigor reference answer for for nearly one-half of all Modern power generation capability in 2014 . China , the world ’s largest carbon emitter , has been guide the way , increasing its solar vim capability by a full18 gigawatts this class . Every year , the monetary value of hint and solar energy is falling . And while we ’re not yet moving fast enough to avoiddangerous climate change , there ’s still hope that worldly concern leaders will hash out much hard carbon pollution resolutions at the global climate conference in Paris this December .
Or , you know , we could pump a bunch of rhombus gunpowder into the sky and see what encounter . Hey , we ’re nothing if not adventuresome when it comes to planetary tinkering .
[ Nature News ]
Top image : Shutterstock
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