Radical solution? Governments discuss innovative strategy to curb global warming

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Global warming is one of the biggest problems and challenges facing humanity today, and thousands of researchers and scientists have been looking for a solution to this obstacle for years.

Recently, a rather unusual solution has shocked the world’s population, in which some politicians and scientists have proposed a rather radical idea: blocking part of the sunlight that reaches Earth.

The idea was named as solar geoengineering and basically consists of injecting reflective particles into the stratosphere, at an altitude of approximately 20 km, creating a type of shield that diverts part of the solar radiation back into space.

Thus, the average temperature of the planet would be reduced by a few degrees Celsius, offsetting the greenhouse effect. However, the approach, despite being innovative, has many risks and uncertainties.

In view of this, countries such as the United States and the European Union are still studying the feasibility and consequences of a possible solar blockade before deciding whether the idea is worthwhile and can be implemented.

Many projects are investigating the new idea, one of which is led by researchers at the University of Harvardin the United States.

Called SCoPEx (Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment), the project intends to launch a balloon with scientific equipment into the stratosphere, to release a small amount of material (about 2 kg) and observe how it disperses and interacts with sunlight.

Initially, the experiment would take place in 2021; however, due to the covid-19 pandemic and opposition from environmental and indigenous groups in Swedenwhere it was to be held, it was postponed to 2023.

Now, scientists are looking for another place to test the new technology. Locations such as the Sahara Desert or the Pacific Ocean are already being considered.

However, it is not just the US that is seeking a solution to the problem, as the European Union is funding a project coordinated by the government organization Solar Radiation Management Governance Initiative (SRMGI), focused on understanding what the potential risks could be. effects caused by the blocking of the sun in developing countries, which are the most vulnerable to climate change.

The project called Decimals (Developing Country Impacts Modelling Analysis for SRM) brings together scientists from Bangladesh, Brazil, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica and Kenya, who with the help of technology and state-of-the-art equipment simulates solar geoengineering scenarios.

They study and seek to understand how the reduction of solar radiation would affect aspects such as precipitation, temperature, agriculture and biodiversity in different regions.

Early results show that blocking the sun may bring some benefits to certain countries, such as reduce heat waves in India or increasing agricultural productivity in Ethiopia.

However, it could also cause problems in other areas, such as altering rainfall levels in Indonesia or affecting ocean circulation in Brazil.

Sea level on alert

Recently the NASA released an animation that shows in detail the rise in sea levels over the last few decades. According to researchers, the oceans have risen 10 centimeters since 1990, this change shows the need to create measures that stop or reduce the greenhouse effect and its consequences.

Scientists believe that in a century the increase will correspond to 40 centimeters and could be much greater than that. The increase in the level of seas can cause flooding of cities, especially those located in coastal regions, in addition to melting the ice sheets found in Greenland and Antarctica, home to thousands of animals.