Dumping chemicals into the ocean? Spraying clouds with salt water? Inject reflective particles into the sky? As global efforts to check greenhouse gas emissions fail, scientists are turning to once-unthinkable techniques to cool the planet. There is. From the report: These geoengineering approaches were once considered taboo by scientists and regulators who feared that tinkering with the environment could have unintended consequences, but now researchers are using taxpayer funds and With private investment, these methods are being taken out of the lab and tested in the field. The changes reflect growing concerns that efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are not progressing quickly enough to prevent the devastating effects of heat waves, storms and floods exacerbated by climate change. . Geoengineering is no substitute for reducing emissions, according to scientists and business leaders involved in the project. Rather, it's a way to slow climate warming in the coming years while buying time to transition to a carbon-free economy in the long term.
Three field experiments are underway in the United States and abroad. This month, researchers aboard a ship off Australia's northeast coast near the Whitsunday Islands are spraying a salty mixture into the air from high-pressure nozzles to brighten low-level clouds that form over the ocean. Scientists say larger, brighter clouds are reflecting sunlight from Earth, covering the ocean's surface, and increasing ocean temperatures around the Great Barrier Reef, where rising ocean temperatures are contributing to large-scale coral die-offs. I hope it cools down. The research project, known as Marine Cloud Brightening, is being led by Southern Cross University as part of the $64.55 million, or A$100 million, Coral Reef Restoration and Adaptation Programme. The program is funded by a partnership between the Australian Government's Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, and includes participation from conservation organizations and several academic institutions.
