London - Saba:
A team of scientists at the University of Manchester has launched a project exploring the potential of marine cloud brightening as a temporary measure to mitigate global warming.
The project, funded by the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), aims to study how spraying sea salt particles can enhance clouds' ability to reflect sunlight, redirecting solar radiation back into space and contributing to lower temperatures on Earth.
The team also seeks to assess the impact of this technology on the global climate while considering potential environmental risks.
The project is based on marine cloud brightening technology, which involves spraying fine sea salt particles into low-lying clouds over oceans.
This process is expected to increase cloud reflectivity by 5-10%, potentially leading to a temporary temperature drop in specific regions—a crucial effect in combating worsening global warming.
Preliminary studies suggest that this technique could reduce temperatures within a limited range of 0.5 to 1°C. However, its broader impact on the global climate remains under investigation.
Professor Hugh Coe, the project’s lead researcher, explained that marine cloud brightening is a temporary solution that does not address the root causes of global warming, such as greenhouse gas emissions. However, it could provide humanity with vital time to accelerate emission reductions and transition to clean energy sources.
The technology relies on natural and safe sea salt, which has a short atmospheric lifespan, settling within a few days. This reversibility makes the environmental intervention more controllable compared to more radical approaches, such as stratospheric aerosol injection, whose effects are harder to manage.
This project is part of broader efforts to develop innovative solutions to climate change, especially amid rising global temperatures.
Dubbed "REFLECT," the project focuses on studying how microscopic sea salt particles can enhance clouds' ability to reflect sunlight back into space, potentially reducing Earth’s surface temperature.
| more of (International) |