Is solar geoengineering an alternative solution to the climate crisis?
Solar geoengineering is a branch of geoengineering that focuses on reflecting sunlight back into outer space to reduce global warming. There are several solar geoengineering techniques being researched; the most feasible one consists of spraying reflective aerosols in the stratosphere.
Scientists also consider brightening marine clouds to make them more reflective.
Recently, the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy launched a five-year research plan to investigate methods for reflecting solar radiation back to outer space in an attempt to reduce the effects of global warming.
Pixabay/Jürgen Jester.
The strategy is called solar geoengineering, albedo modification or solar radiation modification (SRM), and it is meant to cool down the Earth by limiting the amount of sunlight that reaches the surface. Although it is not a new idea, the topic has been understudied and considered essentially taboo for a long time (from 1965 to the mid-2000s), hence the relevance of the White House’s research plan.
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