Scientists have postponed the billionaire-backed study of the controversial technology called solar geoengineering. Primary source evidence proves the claim to be false. stated on March 3, 2023 in a Conservative Political Action Conference speech: stated on February 19, 2023 in a Facebook post: stated on February 24, 2023 in an Instagram post: stated on March 2, 2023 in a speech at CPAC: stated on February 25, 2023 in a Facebook post: stated on February 22, 2023 in a Facebook post: stated on February 26, 2023 in an Instagram post: stated on February 27, 2023 in a Facebook post: All Rights Reserved Poynter Institute 2020, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. 60 scientists write in an open letter that solar geoengineering is worth investigating as a way to keep the Earth from experiencing the most devastating effects of climate change. The Earth is warming rapidly as a result of human-caused emissions. These claims have. SCoPEx is partially funded by Harvard's own Solar Geoengineering Research Program (SGRP), which lists Gates as one of its many philanthropic donors. Bei der Nutzung unserer Websites und Apps verwenden wir, unsere Websites und Apps fr Sie bereitzustellen, Nutzer zu authentifizieren, Sicherheitsmanahmen anzuwenden und Spam und Missbrauch zu verhindern, und, Ihre Nutzung unserer Websites und Apps zu messen, personalisierte Werbung und Inhalte auf der Grundlage von Interessenprofilen anzuzeigen, die Effektivitt von personalisierten Anzeigen und Inhalten zu messen, sowie, unsere Produkte und Dienstleistungen zu entwickeln und zu verbessern. The article was shared on Facebook and was flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. Elsewhere, the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative (C2G) aims to get the United Nations to discuss solar geoengineering at the UN General Assembly in 2023though C2G emphasizes that its stance is strictly impartial, and that the initiative simply seeks effective governance of the technologies. Impacts will vary across regions, and there are uncertainties about the effects on weather patterns, agriculture, and the provision of basic needs of food and water.. ", USDA is predicting egg prices will be $12 a dozen by fall 2022.. The first takeoff would not release aerosols into the skies, however. Sie knnen Ihre Einstellungen jederzeit ndern, indem Sie auf unseren Websites und Apps auf den Link Datenschutz-Dashboard klicken. The Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (SCoPEx), launched by Harvard University scientists, aims to examine this solution by spraying non-toxic calcium carbonate (CaCO3) dust into the atmosphere a sun-reflecting aerosol that may offset the effects of global warming. This bioweapon attack on humanity cost us $20T, millions of lives, and our freedom. The experiment would measure the risks and effectiveness of the technology and is not an effort at widespread implementation. 727-821-9494. stated on February 21, 2022 in an article: "Bill Gates hatches 'horribly stupid' plan to block out the sun", stated on February 20, 2023 in an Instagram post. An FAQ published on the SCoPEx site says: "This knowledge will improve large-scale models that will in turn improve estimates of the overall efficacy and risks of solar geoengineering. But even this flight still months away and pending approval from Harvard's outside advisory committee is only a test of the balloon, and would not release its theoretical payload of just under 3 1/2 pounds of calcium carbonate powder. This one is easy to take on-the-go with you if you're camping, and easy to store if you're using it at home in case of a power outage. The proposed Harvard experiment would use a high-altitude balloon to lift instruments into the atmosphere and release aerosols. Bill Gates Will Have to Wait to Block the Sun, Bill Gates Is Thinking About Dimming the Sun, USAF's Reactor Creates Jet Fuel Out of Water, Air, Bill Gates-backed sun-blocking experiment, solar geoengineering experiment backed by Bill Gates, Harvard Universitys Solar Geoengineering Research Program, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Instead, the balloon would test properties of the hardware and software needed for future trials, including propellers, power, data, navigation and the communication systems. 33701 Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. The Harvard scientists had planned to launch a high-altitude balloon from Esrange Space Station in Kiruna, Sweden to test whether it could in future carry equipment to release solar radiation-reflecting particles into the Earths atmosphere, AFP reports. So what does this mean for SCoPEx, and for solar geoengineering in general? The Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) released a . Bill Gates is a popular target of conspiracy theories characterizing his charitable giving as evidence of a nefarious world domination scheme. One example is cloud. If the world cannot slow emissions or the effects of climate change are more extreme or occur sooner than expected, there may be demands to pursue additional climate-intervention technologies about which scientists need a better understanding, National Academy of Sciences President Ralph J. Cicerone said in a news release for that report.Although riskier ideas to lessen the amount of energy absorbed from the sun should not be considered for deployment, they should be studied so that we can provide answers if someday these ideas begin to be considered in attempts to avert catastrophe.". I'm not sure that's wise, given the importance of the problem, but there's now the geoengineering discussion about: Should that be in the back pocket in case things happen faster, or this innovation [in sustainable energy] goes a lot slower than we expect? Why Trust Us? Geoengineering is the term for technologies that try to alter Earths physical qualities on the largest scale possible. The claim gained traction in mid-February as residents in the state of Texas faced deadly winter storms but continued to circulate on the social network this week. But this claim, like other reports, misrepresents the nature of the project. Is Russias Only Aircraft Carrier Cursed? The United States, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia blocked a 2019 United Nations assessment of global geoengineering plans. A small amount of the substance, between 100g to 2kg, will be released to create an air mass roughly one kilometer long and one hundred meters in diameter. But if we dont understand how solar geoengineering will affect the world, by the time we need it as an option in our climate playbook, it will be too late. Meanwhile China is building a generator as a second sun in order to heat the earth. The SCoPEx project is partially funded by the Harvard University Solar Geoengineering Research Program (SGRP), which lists Bill Gates as one of its philanthropic donors. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. NO MORE CROPS, NO FOOD, NO PLANTS NO NOTHING!!! The ultimate aim is not to roll out some major solar geoengineering apparatus, but to collect data that will better inform computer models, researchers said. .css-v1xtj3{display:block;font-family:FreightSansW01,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-weight:100;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-v1xtj3:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.1387rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-v1xtj3{line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.18581rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.5rem;margin-top:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.23488rem;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0.9375rem;}}USAF's Reactor Creates Jet Fuel Out of Water, Air, Ring Lasers Can Allow Time Travel, Scientist Says, Mystery on Easter Island: More Moai Found in Lake, Ironton Found: Solving An 1894 Shipwreck Mystery, Scientists Discovered a Highly Reactive Superacid, 60 Scientists Are Trying to Block the Sun. Bill Gates backs climate scientists lobbying for large-scale geoengineering Other wealthy individuals have also funded a series of reports into the future use of technologies to geoengineer. It's relatively budget-friendly (solar panels can get expensive fast) and it performs. Scientists have devised multiple ways to block sunlight from reaching Earths atmosphere or surface. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. A snapshot of searches between March 1 and 2 included breakout results largely based around: "Bill Gates trying to block sun. The experiment is funded in part through Harvards Solar Geoengineering Research Program, and Bill Gates is among the donors to that program. But the SCoPEx website says the current project's scope remains limited. This technology would trigger a global cooling effect," blared a viral tweet from RapTV, an . The perfect aerosol would not immediately tamper with stratospheric chemistry at all: The only thing it would do is scatter maximum sunlight and hence cool down the planet.. Bill Gates' Savior Complex Spirals Out of Control, Funds Sun-Dimming Plan To Save the Human Race, says concerns like these are not supported by science, Fact check: Bill Gates is not planning to microchip the world through a COVID-19 vaccine, Planned Harvard balloon test in Sweden stirs solar geoengineering unease, Bill Gates' Savior Complex Spirals Out of Control, Funds Sun-Dimming Plan To Save the Human Race, Could dimming the sun save the Earth? Digital IDs were given to residents in East Palestine, Ohio, to track long term health problems like difficulty breathing before the Feb. 3 train derailment. Advertisement - story continues below Now, apparently, he wants to save us from the sun. Instead, it will observe how particles interact with one another, with the background stratospheric air, and with solar and infrared radiation. That was an atmospheric aerosol event. ", He wrote: "The obvious nightmare is that the future possibility of geoengineering slows efforts to stop emissions but that the technology turns out to be infeasible. While the mechanism of an aerosol solar geoengineering study is simplethe physical structure of aerosol particles literally blocks and scatters lightthe reality is more complex. Solar geoengineering involves using technology to try to reflect solar radiation back into space before it can interact with greenhouse gases. It also has made him a. Keith and fellow SCoPEx scientists published a paper in 2017 suggesting that the dust may actually replenish the ozone layer by reacting with ozone-destroying molecules. Aerosols are the gaseous clouds formed by particles of many common materials. If you live somewhere with low light, you might be worried that solar panels aren't for you, but these actually perform excellently in low light conditions. Jan. 5, 2021, USA Today, "Fact check: Bill Gates is not trying to 'block the sun's rays' in the name of climate change," April 23, 2021, Wilson Center, "Solar Radiation Management," Sept. 20, 2020. So how does that work???". The Keutsch group planned its first test flight for June 2021, which would. In an open letter, the 16 initiators of the Solar Geoengineering Non-Use Agreementall scholars in their own rightargue there are three main grounds for preventing the use of such technologies. The SCoPEx project is partially funded by the Harvard University Solar Geoengineering Research Program (SGRP), which lists Bill Gates as one of its philanthropic donors. Just as quickly as it was announced, a controversial solar geoengineering . First, they point to the unknown risks: deploying solar geoengineering tech could backfire, potentially catastrophically. He's also known for wanting to save us from ourselves. So what should humanity do about it? To refine these models, scientists need to know how the aerosols interact with the atmosphere on a nanoscale. The most the experiment would seek to do is release two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of non-toxic dust from a weather balloon 12 miles high in the sky. Harvard researchers proposed a small-scale experiment that would spray aerosols into the atmosphere to reflect some sunlight back into space, a technology aimed at minimizing global warming. The eclipse is the first total solar eclipse since August 2017. The project originally was scheduled to have a test flight in Sweden in June 2021, but a Harvard advisory committee delayed it until at least 2022 in order to study potential impacts. But harmless only goes so farthe repercussions of solar geoengineering arent necessarily found in the material released, but in the unexpected effects of mixing ingredients into the stratosphere. Geoengineering Monitor, accessed April 23, David Keith's Research Group at Harvard University, October 19, 2020, ", Keutsch Group at Harvard, accessed April 23, ", Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society, April, 17, 2018, ", Harvard's Solar Geoengineering Research Program, accessed April 23, ", Harvard'sStratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment. China threatens to shoot Nancy Pelosis plane down if she visits Taiwan., Know what they always find in Alzheimers patients? If the plan is green-lit, a high-altitude balloon would disperse the mineral dust to study the viability, and risks, of solar geoengineering. This may seem like an idle distinction, but it matters. "One example is cloud seeding, where airplanes flush clouds with particulate matter in order to coalesce into rain.". Some have alleged Gates wants to block the sun. Bill Gates Is Thinking About Dimming the Sun, Everything You Need to Know About the Sun, These Are the 13 Biggest Planes in the World, want scientists to study solar geoengineering, Harvard Universitys Solar Geoengineering Research Program, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. This will likely postpone the platform launch until 2022, the committee said. The Daily Mail, a British tabloid newspaper, reported in August 2019 that Gates "wants to spray millions of tonnes of dust into the stratosphere to stop global warming.". Those responsible must be held to account or it will happen again and again until world government. (April 22), The claim: Bill Gates is working to block the sun to prevent global warming. Know what makes your body hoard aluminum? 1800 I Street NW These are gathered under the umbrella term solar geoengineering. The most common and studied method is to reflect sunlight away from Earth using aerosol particles in the atmosphere, but until now, this has been seen as more of a fringe idea. One way of doing that is by pulling carbon dioxide. A small amount of material is then released to create a "perturbed air mass" about 100 yards wide and a half-mile long. In theory, solar geoengineering is based on the idea that experts can reduce the impact of global warming by reflecting sunlight back into space using chemicals. The arguments underlying these concerns are outside the scope of this article, but a central feature of misinformed reporting on SCoPEx involves conflating scientists' or activists' views on solar radiation management in general with fears about SCoPEx specifically. .css-ow13hy{background-color:#1c6a65;color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:FreightSansW01,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;letter-spacing:0.03rem;padding:0.8125rem 1.25rem 0.9rem;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;text-decoration-color:#1c6a65;text-decoration-thickness:0.125rem;text-transform:uppercase;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;width:auto;}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-ow13hy{font-size:0.875rem;line-height:1;padding:0.7rem 1rem 0.75rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-ow13hy{padding:0.7rem 1rem 0.75rem;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-ow13hy{font-size:0.875rem;line-height:1;padding:0.8125rem 1.25rem 0.9rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-ow13hy{font-size:0.875rem;line-height:1;}}.css-ow13hy:focus-visible{outline-color:body-cta-btn-link-focus;}.css-ow13hy:hover{color:#fff;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;background-color:#000000;border:none;} Make your inbox more awesome. Due to the controversial subject matter (more on that below) and the fact that it is privately funded, SCoPEx is overseen by an outside panel of advisers run by Harvard. As Keutsch has pointed out, this is not a fringe view, it is one held by several scientific bodies. The speculative possibility of future solar geoengineering risks becoming a powerful argument for industry lobbyists, climate denialists, and some governments to delay decarbonization policies, the authors write. The full text of the Solar Geoengineering Non-Use Agreement can be read here. Bill Gates wants to spray millions of tonnes of dust into the stratosphere to stop global warming but critics fear it could trigger calamity, The world needs to explore solar geoengineering as a tool to fight climate change, SCoPEx: Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment, Stratospheric controlled perturbation experiment:a small-scale experiment toimprove understanding of therisks of solar geoengineering, Claims that Bill Gates is going to block the sun lack context, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. This content is imported from poll. District of Columbia SCoPEx,and geoengineering in general,aresomewhat controversial. Carbon capture, where emissions are taken and sequestered beneath Earths surface, is another major form of geoengineering. Alex Kasprak is an investigative journalist and science writer reporting on scientific misinformation, online fraud, and financial crime. The ultimate aim is to measure how the aerosol alters stratospheric chemistry.