Possible geoengineering methods of injecting sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere to create sulfuric acid clouds that limit global warming. Credit: AGU / Brian West
The regional impacts of technology depend on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that are reduced.
Could we create massive sulfuric? acid Clouds that limit global warming and help meet the Paris 2015 international climate targets, while reducing unwanted impacts?
Yes, in theory, according to a study by Rutgers, co-author of the magazine. Earth system dynamics. Spraying sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere at different locations, to form sulfuric acid clouds that block some of the solar radiation, could be adjusted each year to keep global warming at the levels set in the Paris targets. Such technology is known as geoengineering or climate intervention.
But the regional impacts of geoengineering, including precipitation and the hole in the Antarctic ozone layer, depend on the amount of humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions that are simultaneously reduced. If carbon dioxide emissions from burning coal, oil and natural gas continue unabated, geoengineering would not prevent large decreases in precipitation and depletion of the ozone layer that supports life. If society launches massive efforts to reduce carbon emissions, remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and adapt to climate change, small doses of geoengineering can help reduce the most dangerous aspects of global warming, according to the study.
“Our research shows that no single technology to combat climate change will fully address the growing crisis, and we need to stop burning fossil fuels and aggressively harness wind and solar power to power society as soon as possible,” said co-author Alan Robock. , Distinguished Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers University – New Brunswick College of Environmental and Biological Sciences. “This mitigation is necessary whether society decides to implement geoengineering or not.”
Using a climate model, the scientists studied whether it is possible to create sulfuric acid clouds in the stratosphere to reflect solar radiation and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) or 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial temperatures. Those two goals were set at the 2015 United Nations climate change conference in Paris to try to reduce the negative impacts of global warming.
Robock noted that the study was conducted with a single climate model that addressed different scenarios of global warming and geoengineering. Further studies are needed to verify the robustness of the results and further examine the potential risks of any geoengineering scheme.
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Reference: “Equations that fractionally govern transient groundwater flow in unconfined aquifers with multi-fractional dimensions in fractional time” by M. Levent Kavvas, Tongbi Tu, Ali Ercan and James Polsinelli, January 7, 2020, Earth system dynamics.
DOI: 10.5194 / esd-11-1-2020
Lili Xia, research scientist at Rutgers, co-author of the study. Scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Cornell University, University of Colorado, Boulder, University of Utrecht, Delft University of Technology, University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley, Indiana University and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory contributed.
