There is no evidence that the sun has become particularly strong, increasing the amount of solar radiation reaching Earth since the Industrial Revolution beginning some 200 years ago. Yet around the world, the so called experts are about to begin a program of global dimming. At this stage, the trials are apparently experimental, not full scale geo-engineering yet, but rather aimed at gathering data and working out strategies. A key object is to cool the British Isles which are apparently overheating.
Of course, they say the problem is carbon dioxide and the WEF has estimated that to achieve net zero a total of 125 Trillion dollars will be needed by 2050. That’s 125,000,000,000,000 dollars!
Geo–engineering is being planned for a mass rollout. There is much evidence now, that carbon dioxide increase followsan increase in temperature. This is the case at least for the past 400,000 years. Evidence is provided from ice cores. There is a large reserve of carbon dioxide in our oceans and the recent spell of warming has seen carbon dioxide emitted in quantity from our oceans. Carbon dioxide fertilisation has seen increased global greening and this has boosted crop yields by up to 15%.
Meanwhile the UK is leading the way with global dimming projects. So various groups in the UK, plan to save the world by managing the amount of incoming solar radiation. This will of course reduce crop yields, in a world with increasing population.
It is rather ironic that the UK receives only on average, 1,400 hours of sunshine per year, averaging only 3.8 hours per day. Research shows that over 60% of the UK population has insufficient levels of vitamin D and more than 20% are outright deficient. The UK government and their Cambridge and Oxford University experts seem unconcerned. They are not recommending a chair in the back garden sitting in the sun for at least ½ hr per day.
Elsewhere, in the United States, Harvard’s solar Geo-Engineering Research Programme explores stratospheric aerosol injections but outdoor tests faced setbacks. Private ventures like “Make Sunsets”, have conducted unauthorised sulphur balloon releases.
In Australia, there have been marine cloud brightening trials over the Great Barrier Reef since 2020 with the stated objective of protecting corals by enhancing cloud reflectivity.
The “Degrees Initiative” which is UK based, supports solar radiation management in countries like Bangladesh and South Africa to assess regional impacts.
Meanwhile, global efforts remain cautious due to the risks such as disrupted rainfall, ecological impacts, and ethical concerns. African nations are wary of UK driven agendas.
What is actually happening in the UK?
Most people probably haven’t heard of Aria - the secretive UK government agency funding efforts to dim the sun. Aria or the “Advanced Research and Invention Agency”, has allocated $57 million for so called geo-engineering projects that aim to slow global warming.
But some experts have warned that such outdoor experiments could have unwanted side effects. Here’s a diagram to show how geo-engineering could cool the Earth.
Aria, the research funding agency of the UK government, aims to unlock scientific and technological breakthroughs that benefit everyone. The body, based in London, has been given a huge $800 million budget of taxpayers’ money to go towards high risk scientific research. It has other research projects besides dimming the sun. The chief executive has a salary of £450,000 three times greater than the Prime Minister, and spends 4.1 million pounds per year on wages.
A report published this year by the Information Commissioner’s Office showed that Aria had received a Freedom of Information Request seeking information about its “Scoping our Planet” project. Aria responded by stating that it did not consider the requested information to be “environmental information.” However Aria was compelled to release the information, as it was considered there was public interest in Aria being transparent about projects which it was funding. Here was an example of an elite wanting public money but not public accountability.
UK trials began around 2017. A 2023 balloon test releasing sulphur dioxide for equipment testing marked an early step. Marine Cloud Brightening Trials are planed over British waters, potentially near coastal regions or offshore sites suitable for controlled experiments. Exact locations are undisclosed but will likely involve collaboration with UK research institutions specifically the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Climate Repair.
Sea Ice thickening experiments to restore Arctic or Antarctic could involve UK research in Polar regions, though specific sites are unconfirmed.
Marine Cloud Brightening will involve spraying sea salt particles into low lying clouds to increase their reflectivity, cooling the Earth by reflecting sunlight. The salt will force water droplets to coalesce and that will make them more reflective and stop so much sunlight from reaching the Earth. Trials will use ships or drones to release particles in small controlled areas, monitoring cloud behaviour and regional climate impacts.
The UK will also be involved in Stratospheric Aerosol Injection, releasing reflective particles such as sulphur dioxide or calcium carbonate into the stratosphere via balloons or drones to mimic volcanic cooling effects. UK trials will be small scale, testing particle dispersal and atmospheric impacts without large scale deployment.
The UK will also pump seawater into Arctic and Antarctic ice to thicken it, hence reducing the ice melt.
Some of the side effects of geo-engineering
Here are a few solutions from climate scientists to fight climate change:
1. Irrigating deserts in order to plant large numbers of trees that would absorb carbon dioxide. Problem: The new vegetation would draw in sunlight that the deserts reflect back into space at present. So this would contribute to global warming.
2. Engineers would use very long pipes to pump cold nutrient water from the depths of the oceans up to the surface to cool the surface water. Problem: If this process were to stop suddenly the oceans would rebalance their heat levels and rapidly change the climate.
3. Making the oceans more alkaline by pouring lime into the oceans to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide. Problem: Studies suggest this will have little use in reducing global temperatures.
4. Ocean Iron fertilisation. This involves dumping iron into the oceans to improve the growth of photosynthetic organisms that can absorb carbon dioxide. Problem: Studies suggest it will be of little use in reducing global temperatures.
One major concern is that some scientists are concerned that expensive endeavours could fail or even backfire, causing destructive weather patterns and making climate change worse.
According to the apocalyptic climate narrative, humanity faces an existential threat from global warming that can be averted only by aggressive suppression of fossil fuel use, and now geo-engineering. The narrative has been promoted by environmental activists, prominent politicians, and the United Nations for more than three decades now, and has been accepted as gospel by many wealthy countries.
The apocalyptic climate narrative is a deeply flawed guide for public policies because it:
1. Focuses on the risks/costs of global warming and ignores any benefits from warming and the myriad benefits to humanity from fossil fuel use.
2. Advocates aggressive near-term suppression of fossil fuel use without considering the huge costs that such suppression would inflict on humans.
3. Lacks a realistic sense of proportion about the risks/costs from continued global warming which are manageable NOT existential.
Human flourishing depends critically on the abundant availability of energy and on the currently irreplaceable role that fossil fuels play in the production of food, steel, cement and plastics. There should not be a narrow focus on solar panels and wind turbines as they have strong technological limits.
What about the USA?
In the USA ongoing geo-engineering efforts focus mainly on research and modelling of solar engineering techniques like marine cloud brightening, and stratospheric aerosol injection. While large scale outdoor experiments have been attempted, such as a recent cloud brightening experiment that was shut down in California, these have faced opposition and are often the precursors to further more ambitious, but controversial proposals for tests off the coast of North America. Weather modification through cloud seeding is already used in some parts of the USA to increase precipitation.
A geo-engineering technique designed to reduce high temperatures in California could inadvertently intensify heat-waves in Europe according to a study that models the unintended consequences of regional tinkering with a changing climate. Lowering the temperature in one region might bring temporary relief to some populations but there may be negative side-effects in some other parts of the world. The problem is the world has few or no regulations in place to prevent regional application of marine cloud brightening, for instance. There is nothing to prevent individual countries, cities, companies, or even wealthy individuals from trying to modify their local climates.
The consequences of some geo- engineering experiments could be far reaching and harder to predict. Just recently published in “Nature Climate Change”, the authors claim to be the first to demonstrate that cloud brightening effects can diminish or reverse climate conditions.
Using Earth system computer models of the climate in 2010 and 2050, they simulated the impacts of two cloud brightening operations carried out over different regions of the north eastern Pacific Ocean, one in the subtropics near California and the other in the mid latitudes near Alaska.
A 2010 simulation suggested the operation near Alaska would lower the risk of dangerous heat exposure in the target region, and a lowering, but by a lesser amount, in the sub-tropics near California. However in the more disrupted climate of 2050 the same two operations produced very different results because there were fewer clouds, higher base temperatures, and a slowing of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). The consequences outside the target regions were also markedly different between 2010 and 2050. At the earlier date the simulation suggested Europe would also be cooled by the marine cloud brightening in the north Pacific. However, by 2050, the local cooling operation would increase heat around the world, particularly over Europe as a result of the slowing of AMOC.
AMOC is one of the Earth’s most significant climate systems, often referred to as the “conveyor belt” of the ocean. This vast current circulates warm salty water from the tropics to the north Atlantic, where it cools, sinks and flows southward. Its role is crucial: by distributing heat and nutrients across the Atlantic the AMOC helps regulate temperatures, weather patterns , and marine ecosystems, not only in the Atlantic region but globally.
Many scientists are concerned. They say that the experiment may work with a model or on a microscale but that doesn’t mean it will work on a much larger scale. They say the UK is leading the world down “the slippery slope” towards dangerous large scale solar engineering technologies.
Meanwhile, Dr Naomi Vaughan, professor of climate change at the University of East Anglia, said sunlight reflecting methods could create a new risk to society. “Scientists are cautious about solar radiation management research because of how it could be used or misused in the future,” she said.
Ian Bradford, a science graduate, is a former teacher, lawyer, farmer and keen sportsman, who is writing a book about the fraud of anthropogenic climate change.
1 comment:
The most dim aspect of these proposed experiments is the intellectual state of the scientists with their King Canute-type hubris. They have always cried out that we are doomed through the effects of natural climate cycles that they appear to misunderstand, but now want to increase the certainty of doom by entertaining themselves with experiments that could cause irreversible effects. What plonkers!
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