Photo: National Academies of Sciences
Among the probably millions of science fiction books on the market, there is a trilogy called "The Long Winter." Written by A.G. Riddle, it imagines a near future when an alien AI is trying to harness the energy of our Sun to advance its own goals. It does so by placing huge objects between the Earth and the Sun, literally throwing our world into the eternal cold.
As you are reading this, the Earth faces some of its darkest times. And by that, we don’t mean the global health crisis that brought civilization to a halt, but the fact that emissions resulted from human activities are this close to throwing us over the edge and into a very hot future.
Governments, companies, and individuals are scrambling to find solutions to address the root cause of the problem, which would be emissions, but as we see every year, they seem to be failing. So, when unable to treat the cause, one may find comfort in treating the symptoms.
And this is where the blocking the Sun part comes in. Sure, we’re not nearly as advanced as The Long Winter AI to send objects into space to block sunlight, but we can sure cook up something closer to home, in our own atmosphere.
Recently, the National Academies of Sciences published a lengthy report calling for work to begin on developing “climate intervention strategies that reflect sunlight to cool Earth.“ The study's stated goal is to “address research needs and relevant research governance in tandem.”
Needless to say, the paper is just a call to action, of sorts, so it does not come with some readily available solutions but rather hints at possible ones.
There are three main ways to cool off the planet through direct intervention being studied. They are the deployment in the stratosphere of countless small reflective particles, the increase of the reflective cloud cover in the lower atmosphere, and the reduction of cirrus clouds in the upper troposphere to allow radiation to head back into space.
Needless to say, it’s too early to say what technology would be needed to make all of the above happen, but the bottom line is someone is working on it. The team behind the study will meet regularly, and even if we’re not given any timeframe as to when it would be ready, we are told the final report will be publicly available and directed at “policymakers, the public, and the scientific community.”
Governments, companies, and individuals are scrambling to find solutions to address the root cause of the problem, which would be emissions, but as we see every year, they seem to be failing. So, when unable to treat the cause, one may find comfort in treating the symptoms.
And this is where the blocking the Sun part comes in. Sure, we’re not nearly as advanced as The Long Winter AI to send objects into space to block sunlight, but we can sure cook up something closer to home, in our own atmosphere.
Recently, the National Academies of Sciences published a lengthy report calling for work to begin on developing “climate intervention strategies that reflect sunlight to cool Earth.“ The study's stated goal is to “address research needs and relevant research governance in tandem.”
Needless to say, the paper is just a call to action, of sorts, so it does not come with some readily available solutions but rather hints at possible ones.
There are three main ways to cool off the planet through direct intervention being studied. They are the deployment in the stratosphere of countless small reflective particles, the increase of the reflective cloud cover in the lower atmosphere, and the reduction of cirrus clouds in the upper troposphere to allow radiation to head back into space.
Needless to say, it’s too early to say what technology would be needed to make all of the above happen, but the bottom line is someone is working on it. The team behind the study will meet regularly, and even if we’re not given any timeframe as to when it would be ready, we are told the final report will be publicly available and directed at “policymakers, the public, and the scientific community.”
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