Scientists warn that dimming sunlight to fight climate change could alter rainfall and destroy ozone.
Injecting sulfur particles to cool Earth could trigger acid rain and disrupt monsoons
Photo Credit: NASA
Scattering fine particles of sulphur high into the stratosphere by plane could, at first glance, look like a "cheap and easy" way to cool the climate. But many researchers are beginning to argue that this strategy of climate engineering may have dangerously side effects. The new study indicates that although these schemes — under a category of efforts known as stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) — could help stop the rise of global temperatures, they may also be likely to interfere with important weather patterns like the monsoon and shift rainfall in unexpected ways, which would produce unanticipated effects on tropospheric ozone.
As per a report published in Scientific Reports on October 21, researchers at Columbia University evaluated to understand the effects of SAI with advanced computer models. The concept draws on natural phenomena, including the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 in the Philippines. This discharged about 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide to high altitudes that cooled the planet by an estimated half a degree Celsius for around two years. However, this cooling paradoxically triggered a drought in South Asia and a strong winter stratospheric warming.
Atmospheric chemist Faye McNeill, however, sounds a cautionary note: The actual effects might not match simulations, she says, because of the uneven distribution of particles in the atmosphere, which could disrupt global air circulation and heat imbalances.
The study contributes to public knowledge on how aversive the consequences of cloud seeding, whereby sulfur aerosols are mixed with rainwater, may be, a challenging to scale it up because they have few choices as far as material is concerned.
Researchers explain that although geoengineering could offer a temporary respite, it is no long-term solution, as its effects on climate systems are uncertain and they can be dangerous.
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