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Into the unknown: Should we dim the Sun to save the ice?

Into the unknown: Should we dim the Sun to save the ice?

November 05, 2023

This weekend, Interesting Engineering focuses on a new study exploring Solar Radiation Management (SRM) — perhaps better known as the proposal to dim the sun to save the Earth’s icy regions from melting.

However, researchers warn of chaotic unintended consequences from hacking Earth's climate system, along with a failure to tackle to root cause of warming — fossil fuel combustion. Solar dimming may not even affect some types of warning at all.

We have the full story below, plus more highlights from this week’s subscriber-only articles. Let's get into it.

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🌥 Should we dim the Sun to save Earth’s icy regions?

As climate change accelerates, melting Earth's ice at an alarming speed, some scientists propose a drastic response — artificially reducing incoming sunlight to cool the planet.

Solar radiation management involves spraying sulfate aerosols into the stratosphere, forming a hazy veil that scatters sunlight back into space, temporarily cooling surface temperatures, and perhaps preserving the remaining ice sheets.

However, one study indicates that solar dimming cannot reverse subsurface ocean warming that has already eroded ice over recent centuries.

Climate simulations can also help to quantify the likely impact of solar engineering on the Antarctic ice sheet. They forecast that injecting aerosols after 2050 could slow loss, but only alongside aggressive emissions cuts. That's because artificially reducing radiation cannot fully replace the effect of rapid decarbonization. Reducing sunlight would only treat a climate symptom while the underlying fossil fuel cause persists.

"Observations of ice flows in West Antarctica indicate that we are very close to a so-called tipping point or have already passed it," says study lead Johannes Sutter.

But intentionally altering Earth's energy balance carries unknown risks: Shifted weather patterns, ongoing ocean acidification, and disrupted hydrological cycles.

"Geoengineering would be another uncontrolled global experiment and potentially dangerous meddling in the climate system," notes Sutter. International climate treaties have opposed real-world solar engineering tests due to profound ethical concerns and unpredictable side effects. Blotting out sunlight could reduce regional rainfall or snowfall worldwide, bringing drought and water scarcity to some areas along with floods to others.

Yet as urgency mounts, pressure for a rapid response increaes. Could just a little planetary hacking buy enough time for societies to decarbonize? As Antarctic ice vanishes at alarming speed, once unthinkable schemes suddenly surface as last ditch hopes. Read on to learn more about this controversial climate intervention.

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