In order to anticipate climate change, various solutions have been proposed, one of which is to dim the Sun. But these scientists shouted against because they considered it dangerous.
In theory, the essence of this idea is to reflect sunlight back into space with chemical aerosols. A large-scale process, called solar geoengineering, may be used if, in the future, significant areas of Earth are too hot to live in.
Well, as many as 60 scientists and public policy experts have just signed an open letter asking the government to ban such solar engineering.
"We call on the government and the United Nations to take effective and immediate political control over the development of this solar engineering technology," they were quoted as saying by Futurism.
They cite various negative consequences if the technique of dimming the Sun is implemented. Moreover, research on this technology is considered insufficient.
"The impact will probably vary across regions, while this artificial cooling will have more of an impact in some areas than others," they said.
"There is also uncertainty about the impact on regional weather patterns, agriculture and on basic needs for food and drink," they added.
There is also concern that it will be the poor who will suffer the worst impacts. Moreover, the application of technology to dim the Sun may be difficult to control and may only benefit the rich.
The technology to dim the Sun is indeed supported by big technology leaders. The project to block sunlight, known as the Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment, for example, was initiated by Harvard academics and partially funded by the Harvard University Solar Geoengineering Research Program (SGRP), an institution funded by the Bill Gates Foundation.
In the middle of 2021 ago, the first trial was planned to take place in Sweden, to find out whether the research method worked according to theory.
In this experiment, small volumes of aerosolized chemicals will be carried by balloons and spread across the sky at specific locations. However, Harvard has announced a delay to determine how the impact might have on the test area in more detail.
The high-flying balloon was originally planned to launch from the Esrange Space Station in Kiruna, Sweden. The point is to determine whether a test can be carried out to block the Sun on a larger scale.
The high-flying balloon was originally planned to launch from the Esrange Space Station in Kiruna, Sweden. The point is to determine whether a test can be carried out to block the Sun on a larger scale.
Recently, however, Harvard's advisory board recommended postponing it until the effects were known. "This will likely delay the launch of the platform until 2022," they said.
Moreover, there was also resistance from residents at the test site, namely the Saami, a native of Sweden. "This goes against our view that we should respect nature. We have a very clear stance that we do not agree with the development of Solar geoengineering at Sapmi," said Asa Larsson Blind, Vice President of the Saami Council.
Some scientists do call testing blocking the sun's rays risk damaging the ecosystem. It has also been acknowledged by the Harvard team itself before. Spreading chemicals into orbit is against the laws of nature. It could be that the weather will be difficult to predict, causing a drought which in turn makes food supplies stagnate.
