‘Dim the Sun’ to Save the Earth. Would It Work?

There's a plot for a few disaster films such as the "Snowpiercer" wherein the world turns very hot and that scientists took action by making the Earth absorb less sunlight, and thus, cooling it.

According to many, it does not work, really-never, and eventually, "Earth is doomed, anyway." It is a fun plot mechanism for a movie, although one group of scientists appear to be really considering it as a potential solution to stop one of the impacts of global warming.

In a new paper, Environmental Research Letters published, researchers led by the University of Cape Town scientists proposed that emitting reflective particles into the atmosphere could eventually save the Earth from lasting devastating famines as an outcome of continuing climate change. Experts say this is not a joke.

Science Times - ‘Dim the Sun’ to Save the Earth: Scientists are Considering this Wild Plan
The new finding indicates that skewing a particular type of particle into atmosphere to preempt some ‘percentage of sunlight from reaching the surface,’ might sound as if an entirely absurd idea, but if one is to talk about prevention of a global collapse, there then, is, a need to be open to even the wildest opportunities. Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images

How Dimming of the Sun is Done

Reports on this new finding said the idea is that skewing a particular type of particle into the atmosphere to preempt some "percentage of sunlight from reaching the surface" might sound as if an entirely absurd idea, but if one is to talk about prevention of a global collapse, there then is a need to be open to even the wildest opportunities.

The scientists who wrote this paper suggested that utilizing models from the Stratospheric Aerosol Geoengineering Large Ensemble Project. They could possibly reduce the "chances of a 'Day Zero' drought," a term given to the assumed day when the world has legitimately run out of adequate clean water for the entirety of humanity, by 90 percent.

That is quite impressive; a report on the study indicates if this so-called wild plan may indeed work as intended. Nevertheless, there are various other issues that have yet to be addressed.

For example, as pointed out by Futurism, merely combatting a catastrophe such as a planet-level dearth would not, in fact, address global warming.

One of the Global Warming Symptoms Mitigated

Dimming the sun would likely mitigate one of the global warming symptoms. Nevertheless, it would not really solve the impairment that has already been done.

In fact, it could possibly make the situation worse in many ways. A lot of people might not ultimately realize it.

One more major obstacle between global geoengineering and humanity is the reality that for one thing to be decided on, everyone would need to be involved.

One nation cannot afford just jo and make a decision to dim lights for the rest of its people minus the guarantee that all other nations are agreeing with such a decision.

Certainly, it would probably result in a serious pushback by a lot of nations, and there is even the probability that military conflicts could take place when two sides declined to back down.

Attempting to save the planet from drought might eventually spark one more kind of planet-ending disaster, nuclear war, that is.

In any circumstance, the paper is said to be just that-a paper, and no plans are concrete yet to actually turn these so-called "wild ideas" into motion...not just yet.

Read Also: Scientists Find Similarities Between the Universe and the Human Brain

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