Re: Climate Change News & Discussions
Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2024 1:40 pm
Could the "planting" of marine clouds delay Earth's warming?
https://www.yourweather.co.uk/news/scie ... rming.html06/04/2024 12:00
As levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere continue to rise and the impacts of climate change become more costly, the scientific community is redoubling efforts to investigate the potential risks and benefits of artificially shading the Earth's surface to slow down global warming.
Marine Cloud Brightening (MCB) is one of two main methods of modifying solar radiation that are being proposed to offset the worst effects of global warming as decarbonisation advances. MCB proposals involve injecting salt spray into shallow sea clouds to illuminate them, increasing their reflection of sunlight (albedo) and reducing the amount of heat absorbed by the water below.
A group of 31 atmospheric scientists has now presented a consensus physical science research roadmap to build the knowledge base needed to assess the feasibility of MCB approaches. Their roadmap is described in a new article published in the journal Science Advances.
"Interest in MCB is growing, but policymakers do not currently have the information they need to make decisions about whether and when MCB should be used," said lead author Graham Feingold, a researcher at NOAA's Chemical Sciences Laboratory. .
Current MCB proposals are based on saltwater spraying, which would mimic plumes of sulphur-rich emissions from ship smokestacks or volcanoes, to increase aerosol concentrations in the lower marine atmosphere.