{"id":421592,"date":"2026-01-16T11:19:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T10:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=421592"},"modified":"2026-01-16T11:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T10:19:10","slug":"blocking-the-sun-the-folly-of-solar-geoengineering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=421592","title":{"rendered":"Blocking the sun: The folly of solar geoengineering"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From CFACT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Bonner Cohen, Ph. D.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A mesmerizing solar eclipse casts a dark shadow over vibrant fields, framed by rolling hills and dramatic clouds, showcasing nature’s power and beauty.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From Greek mythology\u2019s Icarus, whose wax wings melted after he flew too close to the sun, to Goethe\u2019s \u201cThe Sorcerer\u2019s Apprentice,\u201d who unleashed forces he couldn\u2019t control, our culture warns us that hubris rarely ends well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A California startup wants us to \u201cwork together to cool our planet for future generations.\u201d Make Sunsets seeks to combat climate change by reflecting sunlight (albedo enhancement) through releasing a balloon loaded with sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere. The plan is for the balloon to burst, scattering sulfur dioxide particles that then form clouds of dust that will block the sunlight, thereby cooling the planet. Serving as a role model is Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, whose 1991 volcanic eruption \u201ccooled the Earth by 0.9\u00b0F or 0.5\u00b0C for over a year,\u201d the company notes on its website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depending on the altitude and latitude at which they are released, Make Sunsets\u2019 dust clouds can stay in the sky from six months to three years. The solar geoengineering company has raised more than $1 million from investors and sold $100,000 worth of \u201ccooling credits\u201d this year, The Washington Post<\/em> reports<\/a>. Make Sunsets has sprayed just over 240 pounds of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere this year \u2014 far short of the millions of tons needed to block enough sunlight to lower temperatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standing in the way of wider application are skeptical governments. \u201cTennessee, Louisiana, and Florida have banned the practice, and further bans have been proposed in 34 other U.S. states, at the federal level, and in Mexico,\u201d the Post notes. The Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates<\/a> sulfur dioxide as a criteria air pollutant under the Clean Air Act, acknowledges<\/a> that it is investigating Make Sunsets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGeoengineering, weather modification, stratospheric aerosol injection, marine cloud brightening \u2026 the list goes on where people have questions,\u201d EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin told<\/a> The Daily Caller<\/em> in early December.  \u201cAnd my position is that they deserve answers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from EPA\u2019s concerns about a technology whose centerpiece is the injection of vast amounts of a criteria pollutant into the stratosphere, there are other reasons to be worried about solar geoengineering. What if the technology actually succeeded in blocking sunlight?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2018 study<\/a> published in Nature Ecology & Evolution<\/em> explored how the introduction of solar geoengineering, also known as solar radiation management (SRM), could affect biodiversity. The type of solar geoengineering it investigated involved injecting aerosols into the stratosphere, which would form a protective veil around the Earth, reflecting sunlight and cooling the planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAerosols have a limited lifetime in the stratosphere and would need to be released at regular time intervals in order to be effective,\u201d Carbon Brief<\/em> explains<\/a>. \u201cIf the release of aerosols were suddenly stopped, global temperatures could rapidly rise again.\u201d Many species would be unable to cope with rapidly changing environmental conditions, study author professor Alan Robock of Rutgers University told Carbon Brief<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe main findings are that any implementation of stratospheric geoengineering could end catastrophically for many species. Although if geoengineering were ever done, it would not make sense to abruptly end it, there are credible scenarios where this might happen. Might society ever take that risk?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geoengineering, along with never-ending lawsuits, has become the Plan B for alarmists who have seen their fortunes wane, as the public\u2019s appetite for climate-related sacrifices diminishes.  But the risks of geoengineering are real and are being pursued in the absence of any compelling reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSatellite data from the past four decades confirm a significant growth in vegetation over as much as half the globe,\u201d Vijay Jayaraj, a science and research associate at the CO2 Coalition, points out<\/a>. \u201cDuring this period, atmospheric CO2 increased from about 350 parts per million (ppm) to more than 400 ppm.\u201d The result is the \u201clonger growing seasons of a modestly warmer climate paired with higher levels of CO2. This is hardly the making of a catastrophe that some would have us believe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starving the Earth of sunlight and reducing atmospheric levels of life-sustaining CO2 would open a Pandora\u2019s box of troubles that threaten both wildlife and agricultural productivity. As the low crop yields and resulting famine during the Little Ice Age (ca. 1300\u20131850) document, there is nothing desirable about a cooler planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Efforts to promote global cooling by fiddling with the stratosphere will backfire on far more than just the misguided souls who set the scheme in motion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article originally appeared at Issues & Insights<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Greek mythology\u2019s Icarus, whose wax wings melted after he flew too close to the sun, to Goethe\u2019s \u201cThe Sorcerer\u2019s Apprentice,\u201d who unleashed forces he couldn\u2019t control, our culture warns us that hubris rarely ends well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":421595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"Explore the risks of solar geoengineering and the unforeseen consequences of manipulating Earth's climate for future generations.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"Blocking the Sun: Dangers of Solar Geoengineering 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