White House report hints at blocking sunlight to cool planet Earth - WION
White House report hints at blocking sunlight to cool planet Earth - Science News
White House report hints at blocking sunlight to cool planet Earth
Story highlights
The report claimed that Solar Radiation Modification carries the possibility of significantly cooling Earth on a timescale of some years
The website of the White House has published a research document stating that the Biden administration is looking towards studying how the sunlight can be blocked to save the planet from the crisis of climate change.
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released a congressionally mandated report which showed that the designated team has been researching "geoengineering" methods to stop the sun's rays from accelerating global warming.
As noted by the University of Oxford in its entry on the subject, "geoengineering" is "the deliberate large-scale intervention in the Earth’s natural systems to counteract climate change".
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As per the report titled "Congressionally-Mandated Report on Solar Radiation Modification", the various kinds of geoengineering methods that the Biden administration is looking into are "stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) and marine cloud brightening." Additionally, the paper states that there is ongoing research in "cirrus cloud thinning".
Geoengineering - the way forward?
The report's introduction indicates that the research into "space-based approaches" has not been taking place as "geoengineering" is comparatively easy to implement.
"The focus on atmospheric approaches also follows from their greater near-term feasibility relative to space-based approaches,” stated the document. No government policy is attached to the document as of yet as it is just a research document.
"This Research Plan focuses on improving understanding of the potential impacts of SRM, rather than on technologies needed for deployment. Much of this research would contribute to our ability to understand basic climate processes and effects of human greenhouse gas emissions, as well as outcomes of SRM,” the document read.
"A programme of research into the scientific and societal implications of solar radiation modification (SRM) would enable better-informed decisions about the potential risks and benefits of SRM as a component of climate policy,” the summary continued.
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The document did accept that the research could pave the way for corporate projects or a future government in this field. "Such a research programme would also help to prepare the United States for possible deployment of SRM by other public or private actors,” it stated.
"SRM offers the possibility of cooling the planet significantly on a timescale of a few years,” it stated. The White House, in a separate statement, assured readers that "there are no plans underway to establish a comprehensive research programme focused on solar radiation modification."
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Related Knowledge Center: Climate: geoengineering
As the threat of climate change has gone from theoretical to apparent, proposals for a more aggressive attempt at mitigation through geoengineering have gained currency in some scientific corners, drawn skepticism or outright opposition in others. Prospects for geoengineering would likely improve in inverse proportion to prospects for nations to hit their emissions targets to slow, then reverse the warming of the planet.