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A subpolar-focused stratospheric aerosol injection deployment scenario

iopscience.iop.org

31–40 of 49 posts

Re: A subpolar-focused stratospheric aerosol injection deployment scenario

#31

I might have missed it, but they don’t seem to talk about the fate and transport of the sulphuric acid that forms when the sulfur dioxide oxidizes. This is important to know.

I find "marine cloud brightening" [0] a lot more interesting. It aims to increase the albedo of Earth by creating more clouds over the oceans e.g. by spraying seawater. Pro: "If implemented, the cooling effect is expected to be felt rapidly and to be reversible on fairly short time scales." , [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_cloud_brightening

> It aims to increase the albedo of Earth by creating more clouds over the oceans e.g. by spraying seawater.

Sort of; what we're usually doing, in general, is increase the aerosol burden which in turn increases the total number of nuclei available to form clouds. Given that the total liquid water content in a cloud system is fixed (i.e. controlled by factors that are harder for us to influence directly), this leads to a mixture of consequences:

1. The total number of cloud droplets increases 2. The average cloud droplet size decreases

Both (1) and (2) alone tend to increase the albedo of the cloud. They also produce secondary effects, e.g. they can suppress the formation of precipitation or modify microphysical properties that lead to clouds sticking around longer, thereby further increasing their radiative effect (more SW radiation reflected back to space and possibly more LW radiation at lower radiating heights).

Re: A subpolar-focused stratospheric aerosol injection deployment scenario

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How DARE they try to prevent the extinction of the human race!

dude stop pretending like global warming will cause our extinction or provide a source to back it up. none of the models i've read supported any conclusion like that

But CNN told me.

Re: A subpolar-focused stratospheric aerosol injection deployment scenario

#34

I might have missed it, but they don’t seem to talk about the fate and transport of the sulphuric acid that forms when the sulfur dioxide oxidizes. This is important to know.

We can guess by looking at the SO₂ deposited by volcanic eruptions > [The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo released] 17 megatons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, causing global cooling by 0.5 °C (0.9 °F) between 1991–1993 > [It] oxidized in the atmosphere to produce a haze of sulfuric acid droplets, which gradually spread throughout the stratosphere over the year following the eruption https://en.wikipedia.org/w…

The vital difference is that vulcanic eruptions are basically a pulse-chase 'experiment', whereas geoengineering would require sustained injections with smaller doses.

Re: A subpolar-focused stratospheric aerosol injection deployment scenario

#36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How DARE they try to prevent the extinction of the human race!

dude stop pretending like global warming will cause our extinction or provide a source to back it up. none of the models i've read supported any conclusion like that

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03595-0

you can live in your own wishful thinking fairy tale where models make "conclusions" but over here in reality we have to live knowing that extinction is a possibility because veering away from equilibrium means you cannot predict in the first place.

Re: A subpolar-focused stratospheric aerosol injection deployment scenario

#37
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, access to international sulfur markets. That wouldn't be a barrier for Canada though, which has access to an unlimited supply from (ironically) its oil industry. Athabasca oil sands are somewhere around 5% sulfur, most of which gets extracted and piled up into useless pyramids (since no one is buying it). https://www.businessinsider.com/there-are-mountains-of-sulfu... https://boingboing.net/2016/07/05/the-great…

Perfect. At long last my country will take it's rightful place as ruler of the world: we'll start a massive global cooling project and threaten to end it in a termination shock if we aren't properly compensated for it.

[deleted]

Re: A subpolar-focused stratospheric aerosol injection deployment scenario

#38
post #35
post #2

The dumbest idea ever thought of.

Second dumbest at most. The dumbest idea is blowing CO2 that was sequestered during millions of years into the atmosphere within a couple of decades.

Where does the plan to continue to do it for decades fit in?

Re: A subpolar-focused stratospheric aerosol injection deployment scenario

#39

I'd want there to be a 0% chance of unintended consequences before taking this seriously. And even then when there is no other choice.

Wait, even with a 0% chance of unintended consequences, you’d still insist on exhausting literally every other option?

These climate doomsayers are really committed to the bit.

Re: A subpolar-focused stratospheric aerosol injection deployment scenario

#40

Fun fact: we are currently in an ice age. By definition, when ever there is ice sheets covering both poles we are in one. The default state for earth is no ice over the poles (as far as we can tell) The amount of ice also fluctuates wildly in an ice age. The ice coverage can be where it’s currently at (poles), all the way to an ice sheet covering half of the US and Europe. But in the last 5 million years, there’s a c…

Here's the problem: homo sapiens didn't evolve during a period when both poles were ice-free.
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