The Daily Climate, June 2021
The idea sounds preposterous, straight out of a Ray Bradbury novel: Tint the planet’s atmosphere so the sun’s rays bounce back into space, instead of heating a planet growing increasingly warmer via fossil fuel emissions. But the idea is gaining steam among some political leaders and scientists as global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions fail and the effects of climate change are increasingly felt around the world.
A group of scientists, social justice advocates, Indigenous leaders, and youth on Wednesday decried the concept, saying the technology would widen disparities between global haves and have-nots, leave humanity exposed to even greater problems in the future, and tinker with a complex, essential system – our atmosphere – without fully understanding the consequences. And it doesn’t solve the underlying problem: Increasing carbon dioxide emissions that linger in the atmosphere for thousands of years, acting like a thick down comforter for the planet.
