Skip to content
Navigating a New Political Landscape: View real-time updates about the impact of and Northeastern’s response to recent political changes.
Apply
Stories

Is it time to take sun dimming tech seriously? Experts disagree.

People in this story

Eco-Business, March 2022

When Mount Pinatubo erupted in 2001, so much sulphur was blown into the sky that it blanketed much of the world, dimming the sun’s rays and causing temperatures to drop 0.6 degrees Celsius below average for 15 months. Scientists have long been trying to find out if humans scattering similar particles high into the atmosphere, in a more controlled process generally termed solar geoengineering, could help to contain global warming. The stakes seem ever higher, with the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) warning that global warming, unless rapidly halted, will result in irreversible changes to human and natural systems, and immense suffering for humanity.

That makes solar geoengineering, seen by the scientific community as a last-ditch option that involves dimming the sun instead of reducing greenhouse gases, a more appealing tool to use in the fight against climate change. Or, any efforts to develop the nascent technology should be halted, and the sooner the better – depending on who you ask.

Preparing for the inevitable

The science is unequivocal that the world’s temperature must not rise 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels to avoid the worst effects of climate change. It’s currently 1.1 degrees Celsius warmer, and creeping towards more than 2 degrees Celsius of warming by the end of the century.

Continue reading at Eco-Business.

More Stories

Cruise ship

From theft to cabin safety, how do cruise ships deal with crime at sea?

05.13.2025
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a news conference in Switzerland on May 12, 2025, following a two-day closed-door meeting with Chinese officials. (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump Blinks on China Tariffs

05.13.2025
Caution tape

Is a serial killer stalking New England? Northeastern experts say the evidence doesn’t add up

05.13.25
All Stories