Can we use moon dust to slow down global warming?
- February 21, 2023
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Can we use moon dust to slow down global warming?
Subject : Environment / Science
Concept :
- It is said that a summerless year followed the volcanic eruption of Mt. Tambora in 1816 which released sulphates and other aerosols into the stratosphere that cooled the atmosphere.
- This has encouraged people to examine the possibility of using similar methods artificially to slow down global warming.
Moon dust coolers
- In a recent paper published in the PLoS Climate journal, researchers from the U.S. have proposed the idea of launching tonnes of dust from the moon to a point in space where the gravitational forces of the earth and the Sun cancel each other out.
- Launching the dust to such a point will ensure that the dust will be stationed there which helps cast a shadow on earth and reduce sunlight to offset carbon emissions.
- Aerosols in the stratosphere, particularly those which are radiation-scattering such as sulphates, have a cooling effect.
- It is to be noted that the summerless year which followed the 1816 eruption significantly affected crop yields worldwide causing disease and starvation.
- Additionally, various climate models also have confirmed that dimming the amount of incoming sunlight with stratospheric aerosols will have similar implications on crop yield.
- A few studies however have argued that such droughts would not be as harmful and that the GDPs of the countries will be positively affected by such solar radiation management (SRM).
Solar radiation management (SRM)
- Solar radiation management (SRM) is a type of climate engineering that aims to reduce or slow down global warming by reflecting sunlight.
- The proposed methods of SRM include increasing the planetary albedo by:
- Placing reflective balloons, sunshades, or mirrors in space.
- Injecting heat-deflecting aerosols directly into Earth’s stratosphere to bounce more of the Sun’s heat back into space.
- Marine Cloud Brightening involves introducing saltwater particles from the ocean up into the cloud layer to increase the reflectivity of clouds.
- Adopting surface-based approaches like whitening roofs, growing more reflective crops, etc.
- Adopting restorative methods such as protecting natural heat reflectors like sea ice, snow and glaciers with engineering projects.
- SRM is said to be a fast and inexpensive approach to slowing down global warming.
Concerns
- There is still uncertainty about the potential changes in rainfall patterns as a result of blocking sunlight which can have unintended consequences in the form of drought and crop losses.
- These methods are best when adopted at the continental scale and not at the regional scale.Thus these measures cannot offset the adverse effects of heatwaves and droughts regionally.
- Various natural and social scientists have raised concerns about SRM techniques and governance.
- There are also concerns regarding the aerosol-loading approach that there will be a rebound effect once spraying stops and the aerosols are washed out of the atmosphere.