'Sky is not the limit' for solar geoengineering

Date:
March 14, 2022
Source:
IOP Publishing
Summary:
There are practical limits to the height at which aerosols may
be deployed in the atmosphere to deflect incoming sunlight and
countervail global warming. Very high-altitude injections might
be more effective, but such climate intervention comes with
substantially increased costs and safety risks, according to
new research.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== There are practical limits to the height at which aerosols may be
deployed in the atmosphere to deflect incoming sunlight and countervail
global warming.

Very high-altitude injections might be more effective, but such climate intervention comes with substantially increased costs and safety risks, according to new research published today in Environmental Research Communications.


========================================================================== Following a prominent study in 2018 that clarified the lofting
technologies by which it would be feasible to undertake solar
geoengineering, the new report is the first to assess the safety and cost-effectiveness of deployment at an altitude of 25 km. The report
responds directly to a question posed by the US National Academy of
Science, Engineering, and Medicine in a landmark study in March 2021
which recognized the need for additional research on the viability of depositing aerosols well above 20 km.

Wake Smith, the lead author of the study, says: "This conclusion
should alter how climate intervention models are run globally and shows
that practical limits need to be weighed against radiative efficacy in designing solar geoengineering programs." Several prominent studies over
the last decade have noted that deployment of stratospheric aerosols
at an altitude of 25 km would be more effective than at 20 km, causing
climate modelers to commonly incorporate such lofty deployments into their studies. For reference, airliners and military jets routinely cruise near
10 km, whereas 20 km is the realm of high-flying spy planes and drones.

Planning to fly hundreds of thousands of annual solar geoengineering
deployment flights to altitudes inaccessible even to elite spy planes
would not only substantially increase costs, but would pose unacceptable
safety risks for flight crews, aircraft, and the uninvolved public on
the ground.

According to Smith, "There is a ceiling in the sky above which traditional aircraft cannot operate, and 25 km is above it."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by IOP_Publishing. Original written by
Faye Holst. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Wake Smith, Umang Bhattarai, Donald C Bingaman, James L Mace,
Christian V
Rice. Review of possible very high-altitude platforms for
stratospheric aerosol injection. Environmental Research
Communications, 2022; 4 (3): 031002 DOI: 10.1088/2515-7620/ac4f5d ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220314095714.htm

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