Others can see that the pointy end of AGW is fast approaching and some of those think artificially cooling the Earth by reflecting some of the sunlight hitting it provides a buffer during which reductions in our emissions can continue.
Quote:Canceled Experiment to Block the Sun Won’t Stop Rich Donors from Trying
A botched geoengineering experiment to limit the amount of sunlight hitting Earth hasn’t dimmed donors’ enthusiasm for funding the research
The funders' comments came after two high-profile experiments were shutdown following public backlash, pointing to the challenges of conducting controversial research that could result in weather disruptions or other unintended consequences. The latest experiment was derailed earlier this month when local officials in Alameda, California, rejected a request by Washington researchers to restart a test to brighten clouds from the deck of a decommissioned aircraft carrier in San Francisco Bay.
The move followed the March cancellation of another solar geoengineering project in Sweden.
Most funders of the Alameda experiment didn't respond to inquiries, but the assertions of those who did suggest there's a strong base of philanthropic support for solar geoengineering research, which can also include spraying reflective particles miles about the earth's surface.
"Our goal is to support the basic science needed to assess the role of aerosols in the atmosphere, particularly the stratosphere," said David Spergel, president of the Simons Foundation. "We want to have the basic science in place so that society can evaluate the possible benefits and costs of stratospheric aerosol injection or marine cloud brightening."
There are HUGE risks to trying to reduce the global temperature or prevent it from rising further—what if it stops the monsoon bringing rain to India or delivers it at the wrong time?
We DO have a real life accidental example of geoengineering—the rise and rise of sulphate emissions 1940–1979 and the mild midcentury cooling it brought.
Sulphate emissions suck—you get acid rain, no thanks! Other aerosols are available tho that do not involve sulphates so acid rain is not a problem.
There are still LOTS of idiots who think, despite EVERY terrestrial and satellite series showing the opposite, that the globe is cooling and so hysterically oppose geoengineering.
Myself, I think it is worthwhile to try non-sulphate aerosols at a level equal to say midway in the mid century cooling.
That is preferable to summers starting in midspring and hundreds of thousands of heat deaths (already have tens of thousands of heat deaths.)
Anybody else have an opinion? Sensible opinions, not TVI™/lees opinions that is. Please let me know.
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