In 2015, the National Academies of Sciences, for example, released a two-part report on climate interventions like solar radiation management. Its driven, in part, by a well-intentioned sense of caution that solar geoengineering will weaken efforts to cut carbon emissions. But in my view we have a duty to provide them with that information, so they can make those decisions in the face of really horrific climate risks.". Although . Due to the controversial subject matter (more on that below) and the fact that it is privately funded, SCoPEx is overseen by an outside panel of advisers run by Harvard. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Improved understanding of these processes will help answer applied questions such as, is it possible to find aerosols that can reduce or eliminate ozone loss, without increasing other physical risks? Is Russias Only Aircraft Carrier Cursed? If you aren't really sure where to start, this solar panel is a failsafe option. For now, research into the field is fairly limited. Gates, who dropped out of Harvard in 1975 to co-found Microsoft, has provided funding to the university for climate research since 2007. 1800 I Street NW It is, however, a mischaracterization to suggest that SCoPEx seeks to test geoengineering per se, that a geoengineered world is a desired outcome for the people involved in the project, or that SCoPEx itself could disturb the global climate system. ", Ultimately, Keith said that more study was needed, writing: "It would be crazy to start deploying solar geoengineering today. Climate research, renewables and circularity, Solar engineering would see reflective particles. Such geoengineering . False: The claim is demonstrably false. Environmentalists similarly fear that a dramatic shift in mitigation strategy will be treated as a green light to continue emitting greenhouse gases with little to no changes in current consumption and production patterns. 60 scientists write in an open letter that solar geoengineering is worth investigating as a way to keep the Earth from experiencing the most devastating effects of climate change. The UN document correctly indicates that volcanic eruptions sometimes fill the skies with ash or sulfur, dim the sun for years, and lead to measurable global cooling episodes. But the SCoPEx website says the current project's scope remains limited. The concerns enumerated in Daily Mail and Reuters, when quoting from actual scientists, universally fall into the "slippery slope" line of reasoning the notion that the only reason for the incremental work proposed by SCoPEx is to realize a dream of actually geoengineering the planet. .css-v1xtj3{display:block;font-family:FreightSansW01,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-weight:100;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-v1xtj3:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.1387rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-v1xtj3{line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.18581rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.5rem;margin-top:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.23488rem;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0.9375rem;}}USAF's Reactor Creates Jet Fuel Out of Water, Air, Ring Lasers Can Allow Time Travel, Scientist Says, Mystery on Easter Island: More Moai Found in Lake, Ironton Found: Solving An 1894 Shipwreck Mystery, Scientists Discovered a Highly Reactive Superacid, 60 Scientists Are Trying to Block the Sun. Know what makes your body hoard aluminum? The incremental nature of SCoPEx cannot be understated. Gates and other private donors are supporting Harvard University's Solar Geoengineering Research Program, which had planned to launch a new study based in Sweden in June researching the. The only reason the experiment was in the news in December 2020, for instance, is because the project found a company to facilitate the launch of a weather balloon. In that piece, the outlet represented a Harvard University project named SCoPEx, partially funded by Gates, to be a catastrophic threat to humanity and a literal test of a form of geoengineering known as solar radiation management releasing aerosols into the atmosphere as a way to cool the planet and counter global warming. Headlines or statements to the contrary rely on "slippery slope" arguments about geoengineering in general, not a fear that SCoPEx itself could destroy the world. Aim: dim the Sun. If successful, this could be a step towards a second experimental stage that would release a small amount of CaCO3 dust into the atmosphere. Her favorite topics include nuclear energy, cosmology, math of everyday things, and the philosophy of it all. Unlike sulfates, which can lead to ozone loss, calcium carbonate is not particularly reactive. After much investigation, the team settled on using calcium carbonatechalk, essentiallyas an ideal light-blocking particle. They're capable of withstanding high winds and snow loads, they're anti-reflective, and extremely versatile. The experiment would measure the risks and effectiveness of the technology. The claim first surfaced in 2021 and has been previously debunked. 1.5K. Then where do you go? It also has made him a frequent target for conspiracy theories. El atacante en Uvalde, Texas estaba en Estados Unidos ilegalmente. It's relatively budget-friendly (solar panels can get expensive fast) and it performs. The project is supported in part by philanthropist Bill Gates through SEAS's Solar Geoengineering Research Program. This is why, SCoPEx says, most research has focused on an aerosol chemical already found in the stratosphere: sulfuric acid, which is a pollutant. Bill Gates' "Block The Sun" Scopex Balloon Launch Experiment In Sweden Hits A Snag As Environmental Groups Express Criticism . ", USDA is predicting egg prices will be $12 a dozen by fall 2022.. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Instruments carried by the balloon monitorthat region for changes inaerosol density, atmospheric chemistryand light scattering. One example is cloud. It is not a test of solar geoengineering per se. So what does this mean for SCoPEx, and for solar geoengineering in general? The project revolves around the concept of geoengineering, large-scale efforts to reducethe effects of climate change usually temporarily on oceans, soils and atmosphere. Geoengineering is the term for technologies that try to alter Earths physical qualities on the largest scale possible. If you live somewhere with low light, you might be worried that solar panels aren't for you, but these actually perform excellently in low light conditions. The worst case scenario is that humankind faces an extreme climate emergency, but knows nothing about even the long-shot ways to address it. A controversial, Bill Gates-backed sun-blocking experiment has been postponed for ethical reasons. Harvard scientists intend to block out the sun's rays from earth as a way to help stave off climate change. . NO MORE CROPS, NO FOOD, NO PLANTS NO NOTHING!!! We need your help. Bill Gates is investing in research to build sun-dimming technologies which could reverse global warming. "Grants for research are provided to Harvard University from gifts made by Bill Gates from his personal funds," the Harvard University website has said, noting the activities of the grant fund are totally unrelated to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Slippery-slope arguments aside, this is a far cry from an attempt to geoengineer the world. "Decision-makers and the public they serve need balanced information about the effectiveness and risks of geoengineering," he wrote in that editorial. Scientists have postponed the billionaire-backed study of the controversial technology called solar geoengineering. The risks of solar geoengineering are poorly understood and can never be fully known, the scholars say. Make a DIY Cigar Box Florescent Rock Display. According to Snopes,. It is true that no one knows what will happen until the CaCO3 is released and then studied afterward. Harvard researchers proposed a small-scale experiment that would spray aerosols into the atmosphere to reflect some sunlight back into space, a technology aimed at minimizing global warming. The billionaire is backing a study of the controversial technology called solar geoengineering. The Swedish Space Corporation has agreed to help launch a balloon close to the town of Kiruna, Forbes reported. Opponents believe such science comes with unpredictable risks, including extreme shifts in weather patterns not dissimilar to warming trends we are already witnessing. This is our End Times News Update for the week of Friday February 3rd, 2023. If given the go-ahead, the experiment could take place in June, 2021, from the Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden. Concerned groups want a clearer understanding of consequences before the launch. In a future test, the team is planning to use a high-altitude balloon to lift a package holding calcium carbonate approximately 20 km into the atmosphere. This bioweapon attack on humanity cost us $20T, millions of lives, and our freedom. As Popular Mechanics noted, "(A)ll of the scientists and backers involved are only suggesting doing researchnot taking large-scale action.". A report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggested the SCoPEx procedure could lower global temperatures by a full 1.5 C for no more than $1-10 billion a year. The claim: Bill Gates is working to block the sun to prevent global warming Bill Gates' wealth has allowed him to donate and invest in projects across the globe. The SCoPEx project is partially funded by the Harvard University Solar Geoengineering Research Program (SGRP), which lists Bill Gates as one of its philanthropic donors. What is solar geoengineering, anyway, and why are scientists suddenly interested inand concerned bythe concept? Franklin Jacome/Agencia Press South/Getty Images, lists Bill Gates as one of its philanthropic donors, Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. Gates' financial involvement with SCoPEx has been documented since November 2018. As noted by Nature in 2018, the concept in a broad sense is designed to spray particles into the stratosphere that may cool the planet by reflecting some of the Sun's rays. A review is ongoing to determine if the proposed balloon launch alongside the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) can go ahead. But now, Harvard says its delaying the study to examine the impact on Sweden itself, as well as the indigenous Sami people who live in the region. Mount Merapi, 2,968 metres high, is known as one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia, with an eruption occurring every two to five years. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.). BBC News edited out boos in footage of Boris Johnson arriving at the Queens Platinum Jubilee thanksgiving service. A new coalition of scholars wants the technology effectively banned. But harmless only goes so farthe repercussions of solar geoengineering arent necessarily found in the material released, but in the unexpected effects of mixing ingredients into the stratosphere. Fluoride.. Daily Star, "Bill Gates hatches 'horribly stupid' plan to block out the Sun - just like Mr Burns," Feb. 21, 2022, David Keiths Research Group, "Fund for Innovative Climate and Energy Research," accessed Feb. 25, 2022, Harvards Solar Geoengineering Research Program, "Funding," accessed Feb. 25, 2022, Keutsch Group at Harvard, "SCoPEx," accessed Feb. 25, 2022, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, "New Report Says U.S. Should Cautiously Pursue Solar Geoengineering Research to Better Understand Options for Responding to Climate Change Risks," March 25, 2021, Natural Resources Defense Council, "The Dept. The test was originally scheduled for June 2021, but will be delayed until at least 2022. Now, some social media users are claiming that billionaire Bill Gates is planning to spray dust into the atmosphere to "block the sun" as a way to combat global warming. MSFT Bei der Nutzung unserer Websites und Apps verwenden wir, unsere Websites und Apps fr Sie bereitzustellen, Nutzer zu authentifizieren, Sicherheitsmanahmen anzuwenden und Spam und Missbrauch zu verhindern, und, Ihre Nutzung unserer Websites und Apps zu messen, personalisierte Werbung und Inhalte auf der Grundlage von Interessenprofilen anzuzeigen, die Effektivitt von personalisierten Anzeigen und Inhalten zu messen, sowie, unsere Produkte und Dienstleistungen zu entwickeln und zu verbessern. "Bill Gates hatches 'horribly stupid' plan to block out the sun," says the headline on a Feb. 21 article on the Daily Star website. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images). The launch will not release any stratospheric aerosols. At its core, SCoPEx seeks to better understand the efficacy and risks of solar geoengineering. Gates only connection to the research is through his donation to Harvards Solar Geoengineering Research Program, which is providing part of the funding for the project. Anyone new to solar panels should start with a good kit, like this one by Renology. It sounds very much like the plot of one science fiction movie in particularnamely Bong Joon-hos 2013 film Snowpiercer, in which scientists release aerosols into the sky in a desperate bid to stop rampant global warming. For one thing, the methods could have unintended consequences on global weather patterns. These models, the SCoPEx website explains, "are the primary tool for estimating the risks and benefits of solar geoengineering." STOP HIM. If the plan is green-lit, a high-altitude balloon would disperse the mineral dust to study the viability, and risks, of solar geoengineering. Bill Gates ' involvement with a geo-engineering experiment aimed at slowing climate breakdown has prompted viral conspiracy-laden claims centred around the idea that he "wants to block out the sun". Alex Kasprak is an investigative journalist and science writer reporting on scientific misinformation, online fraud, and financial crime. Carbon capture, where emissions are taken and sequestered beneath Earths surface, is another major form of geoengineering. The chemical is non-toxic and the amount released will also be small. Keith wrote in a blog post last December there are "no easy answers" to climate change and noted that a "technology's risks depend on how it's used. Gates did not create such a plan. To do so, scientists need to determine whether there are aerosols that could reduce or eliminate ozone loss without increasing the chance of other risks. One of the more controversial suggestions is that we should simply prevent so much heat reaching Earth in the first place. Now, concerned that science fiction could end up becoming science fact in all the wrong ways, an international coalition of researchers and campaigners has called for an end to solar geoengineering plans. In late December 2020, reacting to reporting from Reuters, the Western Journal published a story titled "Bill Gates' Savior Complex Spirals Out of Control, Funds Sun-Dimming Plan To Save the Human Race." Bill Gates' wealth has allowed him to donate and invest in projects across the globe. For these reasons, and because SCoPEx does not from a factual standpoint actually dim or block the sun, we rate the claim that Gates is funding research that "would help block out the sun" as "Mostly False.". billionaire founder Bill Gates is financially backing the development of sun-dimming technology that would potentially reflect sunlight out of Earths atmosphere, triggering a global cooling effect. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com, A project funded by Bill Gates "would help block out the sun. "The laws governing Agenda 2030 land development allows the government to seize polluted lands and move their residents to smart cities., Bill Gates hatches 'horribly stupid' plan to block out the Sun - just like Mr Burns, Fund for Innovative Climate and Energy Research, New Report Says U.S. Should Cautiously Pursue Solar Geoengineering Research to Better Understand Options for Responding to Climate Change Risks, Stratospheric controlled perturbation experiment: a small-scale experiment to improve understanding of the risks of solar geoengineering, No, Bill Gates did not outline 2018 plan to depopulate the planet, No, the Gates Foundation isnt pushing microchips with all medical procedures, Bill Gates Will Have to Wait a While to Block the Sun, Bill Gates Is Thinking About Dimming the Sun, Claims that Bill Gates is going to block the sun lack context, Solar Geoengineering Should be Investigated, Scientists Say. The article was shared on Facebook and was flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Photo by: VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images), Santa Clara, California 27 September, 2014 Global, March Against Chemtrails and Geoengineering, YOGYAKARTA, INDONESIA - JANUARY 07: Lava runs down, from Mount Merapi as the volcanic activity increases on January 7, 2021 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.