Tag

Geoengineering

All articles tagged with #geoengineering

science16 days ago•2 min saved

Marine Cloud Brightening May Collapse El Niño Cycle, Study Warns

A 2025 study from the University of California, Santa Barbara, suggests that marine cloud brightening, a proposed geoengineering method to cool the planet, could severely disrupt the El Niño Southern Oscillation. Simulations indicate this technique might reduce the cycle's amplitude by 61%, leading to drastic drops in rainfall across the Pacific and threatening global agriculture. Researchers recommend stratospheric aerosol injection as a safer alternative that mimics volcanic eruptions without destabilizing ocean currents.

via bgr.com|

#aerosols #climate-change #el-nino

science19 days ago•23 min saved

Slower Atlantic Conveyor Could Tilt Earth Toward a Snowball Freeze

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is weakening as the climate warms, reducing a major heat-transport system that keeps Europe warm and helps regulate global weather. Projections suggest about a 50% weakening by 2100, with salinity changes in the South Atlantic identified as a key driver, though model predictions vary widely. A complete AMOC shutdown could trigger drastic shifts—stronger European temperature extremes, Sahel drought, and potentially a snowball-Earth-type cooling—with some studies hinting the tipping point could arrive as early as the 2040s. Geoengineering ideas like damming the Bering Strait exist but are controversial and uncertain. The article emphasizes urgency to cut greenhouse-gas emissions under the Paris Agreement to avert severe outcomes.

via Science News Explores|

#amoc #climate-change #geoengineering

science1 month ago•14 min saved

AMOC on the brink: scientists race to map a potential oceanic collapse

A Greenland expedition highlights fear that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is weakening as warming and freshwater inputs hinder deep-water formation, raising the risk of a rapid slowdown or collapse with far-reaching effects on Europe, the Americas, and global climate; researchers are racing to measure signals amid natural variability, while some propose drastic geoengineering options, though most emphasize reducing CO2 as the reliable solution.

via BBC Science Focus Magazine|

#amoc #climate-change #geoengineering

technology2 months ago•23 min saved

US approves test of an 18-metre space mirror to light Earth at night

US regulators have approved Reflect Orbital to test its Eärendil-1 satellite, which will unfurl a giant 18-metre mirror to reflect sunlight back to the dark side of Earth, illuminating a three-mile-wide patch and potentially enabling nighttime urban lighting and post-sunset solar farming; the company envisions a wider constellation in the future, while critics warn of impacts on health, wildlife, and astronomy, and the FCC notes environmental considerations fall outside its remit for space-based radio operations.

via Dezeen|

#fcc #geoengineering #reflect-orbital

science2 months ago•4 min saved

Sun-dimming proposal eyed to blunt looming super El Niño

UC San Diego researchers propose using marine cloud brightening—injecting aerosols into the stratosphere to brighten clouds and reflect sunlight—as a targeted geoengineering tool to mitigate extreme El Niño effects. Their simulations suggest this could boost cooling and drying by about 40% during major El Niño events, but the idea is controversial, unproven, and would require ongoing deployment; critics caution it could have unintended side effects and argue emissions reduction remains essential.

via New York Post|

#climate-change #el-nino #geoengineering

science2 months ago•49 min saved

Sun-Dimming as El Niño Remedy: A Controversial Climate Engineering Proposal

Researchers propose dimming the Sun to counteract El Niño as a form of solar radiation management; while some models suggest cooling and reduced extreme rainfall, experts caution that regional impacts are uncertain and governance and ethical considerations must be addressed before any real-world testing.

via Yahoo|

#climate-engineering #el-nino #geoengineering

earth-science3 months ago•17 min saved

Sky-based tweak could blunt El Niño before it begins

A Science Advances modeling study shows that targeted marine cloud brightening over the southeast tropical Pacific could weaken, or even neutralize, developing El Niño events. In simulations of the 1997–1998 and 2015–2016 super El Niños, applying the technique from June through February restored ENSO-neutral conditions, but researchers stress this is a proof-of-concept and not a-ready-for-field approach, noting uncertainties such as potentially faster La Niña onset and other unintended climate effects that require extensive follow-up before any real-world tests.

via Gizmodo|

#climate-science #earth-science #el-nino

science3 months ago•7 min saved

Sunlight Dimming Could Dampen the Next El Niño

A modeling study proposes regional solar dimming through marine cloud brightening to cool the Pacific and lessen El Niño’s strength and global impacts, drawing on the 2019–2020 Australian bushfire smoke as a natural analogue; while potentially feasible as a targeted tool, experts warn about uncertain effects, political challenges, and the need for much more research before any real-world deployment.

via WIRED|

#climate-change #el-nino #geoengineering

science3 months ago•189 min saved

Scientists weigh sun-dimming geoengineering to blunt a coming Super El Niño

A Science Advances study explores marine cloud brightening—spraying particles into ocean clouds to reflect sunlight—as a controversial, temporary tool to lessen the impacts of a potential Super El Niño. Using a natural-fire–driven analog, researchers modeled deploying the technique before two historic El Niño events and found it could reduce heat and dryness and boost La Niña conditions by about 40%, especially if used early. The paper stops short of advocacy, calling it a proof-of-concept that warrants further study while flagging major caveats: technical feasibility, uncertain regional effects, ethical questions about governance, and the risk of unintended consequences or termination shocks if deployed. Experts caution that while intriguing, such geoengineering is far from ready and should not replace emissions cuts.

via CNN|

#climate-change #el-nino #geoengineering

science3 months ago•91 min saved

Promising Arctic ice thickening test faces scale hurdles

A field test in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut flooded seawater onto sea ice to thicken it. The eight test areas grew up to 12.6 inches (32 cm) thicker than controls, remained thicker through melt season, and appeared brighter, indicating slower melting. While this technique could boost Arctic albedo and offer regional cooling if scalable, experts warn large-scale deployment is unlikely due to logistical, economic, governance, and ecological challenges; prior studies estimate millions to hundreds of millions of pumps would be required to cover meaningful Arctic areas.

via Live Science|

#arctic #cambridge-bay #climate-change

science3 months ago•4 min saved

Geoengineering gamble: one method could dampen El Niño, another barely stirs the climate

A UCSB study finds two cooling geoengineering approaches have very different regional climate effects: marine cloud brightening in the eastern Pacific could dramatically reduce ENSO amplitude (about 61%), altering rainfall and upwelling, while stratospheric aerosol injection shows almost no measurable ENSO impact. The results emphasize that similar global cooling can come with very different regional consequences and underscore the need for careful evaluation of any geoengineering deployment and its ecological and agricultural risks.

via ScienceDaily|

#el-nino #enso #geoengineering

science3 months ago•8 min saved

Geoengineering’s Risky Edge: Scientists warn of termination shock and governance gaps

Four climate scientists warn that solar geoengineering could trigger termination shock, creating a long‑term, potentially irreversible dependence on ongoing deployment with uncertain climate effects; they criticize funding that prioritizes technology over rigorous science and governance, note COP talks’ tensions, and urge robust modeling and global governance before any field trials while emphasizing the need to cut fossil fuels rather than rely on unproven fixes.

via CleanTechnica|

#climate-governance #cop31 #geoengineering

science3 months ago•89 min saved

China's Sky River gamble reveals the elusive promise and peril of cloud-seeding climate engineering

Live Science explains that China’s ambitious Sky River cloud-seeding plan aimed to create a permanent atmospheric river to divert monsoon rainfall from the Tibetan Plateau into northern basins as part of a mega water-transfer effort. Scientists warned the concept is scientifically unworkable because cloud seeding can only enhance existing precipitation, not conjure rain from dry air, and it could carry regional risks and geopolitical tensions. The plan was scaled back and largely dropped from official messaging, yet the episode illustrates Beijing’s willingness to deploy large-scale weather modification in pursuit of water security and climate goals, provoking ongoing debate about the feasibility and governance of geoengineering.

via Live Science|

#climate-change #cloud-seeding #geoengineering

space-and-spaceflight4 months ago•16 min saved

StormWall: A Space Shield to Dampen Solar Storms

Scientists propose ‘StormWall,’ a constellation of mass-loading spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit that would ionize materials to create magnetospheric plasma, aiming to suppress magnetic reconnection during solar storms and potentially halve their impact. While conceptually feasible, major challenges remain in cost, maintenance, and orbital optimization before any deployment could be considered.

via Gizmodo|

#geoengineering #geomagnetic-storms #magnetosphere

science4 months ago•41 min saved

Scientists propose space-based chemical shield to deflect severe solar storms

Researchers suggest releasing trace chemical clouds into Earth's magnetosphere to form a protective shield against powerful solar storms. The idea is highly speculative and would require major advances in feasibility, funding, and risk assessment, as well as careful consideration of potential environmental and geopolitical consequences before any real-world testing.

via Yahoo|

#environmental-impacts #geoengineering #magnetosphere