This is the purpose of the experiment: once a safe, experimental amount of CaCO3 is released, the balloon will fly through it, sampling atmospheric reactions and recording resulting dynamics. SCoPEx,and geoengineering in general,aresomewhat controversial. The billionaire is backing a study of the controversial technology called solar geoengineering. The example listed in the report is the above-mentioned Mt. Proponents of solar geoengineering, also known as solar radiation modification, say deployment of the technology could be a shortcut to slow a rise in global temperatures that is stoking more. Since 2007, Bill Gates has funded research initiatives that, in part, provide grants for experiments related to solar radiation management a form of geoengineering controversially proposed. 1800 I Street NW According to Snopes,. 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. Three doctors from the same hospital die suddenly in the same week, after the hospital mandated a fourth COVID-19 vaccine for employees. #BillGates is buying out all of the farmlands and trying to figure out ways to block out the SUN for THREE DAYS!!! In a report made by that body, Gates' involvement is noted, but the proportion of the project funded by Gates is not publicly disclosed. After much investigation, the team settled on using calcium carbonatechalk, essentiallyas an ideal light-blocking particle. Since 2007, Bill Gates has funded research initiatives that, in part, provide grants for experiments related to solar radiation management a form of geoengineering controversially proposed as a last-ditch solution to anthropogenic global warming. It is not a test of solar geoengineering per se. Such assertions or implications are misleading in several regards described in detail below. An effort to dim the sun to stop global warming has been scrapped by the Swedish Space Agency, who announced that the program, funded by Bill Gates, has 'divided the scientific community' and will therefore not be carried out. 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. American journalist Jack Posobiec was arrested at World Economic Forum., The Uvalde, Texas, mass shooter was an illegal alien., Says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he wants Americas sons and daughters to go die in Ukraine., In Ohio, there are 75,000 acres of farmland, fertile farmland, that are all now being poured down with acid rain., Muslims by the millions are converting to Christianity.. The first takeoff would not release aerosols into the skies, however. Claim that Bill Gates is scheming to block the sun is wrong If Your Time is short Harvard researchers proposed a small-scale experiment that would spray aerosols into the atmosphere to. In 2015, the National Academies of Sciences, for example, released a two-part report on climate interventions like solar radiation management. Improved understanding of these processes will help answer applied questions such as, is it possible to find aerosols that can reduce or eliminate ozone loss, without increasing other physical risks?". Gates, who dropped out of Harvard in 1975 to co-found Microsoft, has provided funding to the university for climate research since 2007. Now, concerned that science fiction could end up becoming science fact in all the wrong ways, an international coalition of researchers and campaigners has called for an end to solar geoengineering plans. If given the go-ahead, the experiment could take place in June, 2021, from the Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden. 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. Environmentalists similarly fear that a dramatic shift in mitigation strategy will be treated as a green light to continue emitting greenhouse gases with little to no changes in current consumption and production patterns. ", USDA is predicting egg prices will be $12 a dozen by fall 2022.. Snopes said SCoPEx is also financed by the Fund for Innovative Climate and Energy Research (FICER), a fund for research grants co-created by Gates in 2007. China threatens to shoot Nancy Pelosis plane down if she visits Taiwan., Know what they always find in Alzheimers patients? Pinatubo eruption in 1991 , which temporarily cooled our planet by 0.5 degrees C. May 2021: Bill Gates, Harvard University back solar geoengineering to fight global warming. The project is supported in part by philanthropist Bill Gates through SEAS's Solar Geoengineering Research Program. The World Economic Forum has its own police force. It can fully charge a 50Ah Battery from 50% in 3 hours. 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. Bill Gates' "Block The Sun" Scopex Balloon Launch Experiment In Sweden Hits A Snag As Environmental Groups Express Criticism . 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. Additionally, the project is not working to block or dim the sun. Anyone new to solar panels should start with a good kit, like this one by Renology. 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. Instead, the balloon would test properties of the hardware and software needed for future trials, including propellers, power, data, navigation and the communication systems. In a December 2020 Boston Globe editorial, he wrote: Why the sharp divergence between media and science? The meteor strike that might have killed the dinosaurs blanketed the Earth in a layer of aerosol dust. Instead, it will observe how particles interact with one another, with the background stratospheric air, and with solar and infrared radiation. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. The concerns enumerated in Daily Mail and Reuters, when quoting from actual scientists, universally fall into the "slippery slope" line of reasoning the notion that the only reason for the incremental work proposed by SCoPEx is to realize a dream of actually geoengineering the planet. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Is Russias Only Aircraft Carrier Cursed? 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. Climate research, renewables and circularity, Solar engineering would see reflective particles. The process is not without controversy, as some experts have voiced fears that blasting chemicals into our immediate orbit tampers with the natural order, making weather less predictable or threatening populations' food supplies by causing drought. Fact check: Bill Gates is not trying to 'block the sun's rays' in the name of climate change. Its the instigating event of the 2013 film Snowpiercer, for example, where blocking sunlight has turned Earth into a lifeless ice ball. The stated goal of SCoPEx, as described on the project website, is the collection of data regarding the microphysics of aerosols in the upper atmosphere so that computer models analyzing geoengineering can be as accurate as possible: This experiment will help us learn more about the efficacy and risks of solar geoengineering. It also has made him a. 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. Never far away from a plot to destroy, control and profiteer, since early last year Bill Gates and other private donors have funded Harvard University's Solar Geoengineering Research Program, SCoPEx, to study effective ways to block sunlight from reaching Earth's surface. As we see tha. Meanwhile, for a new prepublication report, the NASEM convened a committee of 16 international science luminaries to develop solar geoengineering research. For now, research into the field is fairly limited. Bill Gates' wealth has allowed him to donate and invest in projects across the globe. The Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (SCoPEx) aimed to see how a tiny amount of aerosol in a trial would influence the immediate surroundings. (Photo by: VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images), Santa Clara, California 27 September, 2014 Global, March Against Chemtrails and Geoengineering, YOGYAKARTA, INDONESIA - JANUARY 07: Lava runs down, from Mount Merapi as the volcanic activity increases on January 7, 2021 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. One example is cloud. Bill Gates funded the study. I cover energy, security, Europe, Russia/Eurasia & the Middle East, The Sun setting into a pall of forest fire smoke, over Alberta from fires in BC and elsewhere, on August 17, 2018 This shows the dimming and reddening of the Sun as it set, with it disappearing from view long before it reached the horizon This was from home in southern Alberta, and is a Lighten blend mode stack of 20 images taken at 10 minute intervals, and shot on Auto Exposure with the Canon 6D MkII and 35mm lens The frames are part of a larger 200-frame timelapse processed with LRTimelapse. Primary source evidence proves the claim to be false. Bill Gates is investing in research to build sun-dimming technologies which could reverse global warming. "Geoengineering is a blanket term for technologies that try to alter Earths physical qualities on the largest scale possible," Popular Mechanics reported. Fluoride.. 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 need your help. This is why, SCoPEx says, most research has focused on an aerosol chemical already found in the stratosphere: sulfuric acid, which is a pollutant. 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. On the other hand we are expected to go to solar powered energy. This may seem like an idle distinction, but it matters. 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. The United States, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia blocked a 2019 United Nations assessment of global geoengineering plans. For one thing, the methods could have unintended consequences on global weather patterns. Lets just say the plan doesnt work out as intended. Already, about 30% of the suns energy is reflected back into space by clouds and ice, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental nonprofit group. This week, the influential National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) also released a new report urging the U.S. government to spend at least $100 million to study solar geoengineering, a controversial technology. The experiment would measure the risks and effectiveness of the technology. Gates argument, as described during a 2010 TED Talk, is that humanity should not be in a position, if global warming gets bad enough that geoengineering needs to be taken seriously, where we do not have the research to fully understand the mechanics of that solution: If you get into that situation, it's like if you've been overeating, and you're about to have a heart attack. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has funded a project to study such a technology. So how does that work???". 801 3rd St. S The exact amount of CaCO3 needed to cool the planet is unknown, and SCoPEx scientists similarly cannot confirm whether it is the best stratospheric aerosol for the job. Keith, who manages a multimillion dollar geoengineering research fund provided by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, previously commissioned a study by a US aerospace company that made the case for the . There is documentation of bull sharks in the Great Lakes. The SCoPEx experiment sought to release just a small amount of aerosol material into the sky in a specific location, but now, Harvard says even this must be considered in more detail and with ethical implications in mind. Again, these temperature decreases bring with them serious risks. "The risks of solar geoengineering are poorly understood and can never be fully known," dozens of scientists wrote in an open letter to governments last year, imploring them to prohibit the technology. With assistance from Hayley Arlin and James Grant. This content is imported from poll. The only reason the experiment was in the news in December 2020, for instance, is because the project found a company to facilitate the launch of a weather balloon. Daily Star, "Bill Gates hatches 'horribly stupid' plan to block out the Sun - just like Mr Burns," Feb. 21, 2022, David Keiths Research Group, "Fund for Innovative Climate and Energy Research," accessed Feb. 25, 2022, Harvards Solar Geoengineering Research Program, "Funding," accessed Feb. 25, 2022, Keutsch Group at Harvard, "SCoPEx," accessed Feb. 25, 2022, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, "New Report Says U.S. Should Cautiously Pursue Solar Geoengineering Research to Better Understand Options for Responding to Climate Change Risks," March 25, 2021, Natural Resources Defense Council, "The Dept. The Earth is warming rapidly as a result of human-caused emissions. Claim that Bill Gates is scheming to block the sun is wrong If Your Time is short Harvard researchers proposed a small-scale experiment that would spray aerosols into the atmosphere to. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. According to the team, the design for future SCoPEx flights required a balloon that can fly a 600 kg payload close to an altitude of 12 miles. "JUST IN: Bill Gates next venture will try to spray dust into the atmosphere to block the sun. But solar geoengineering is controversial, even according to the Harvard researchers who proposed the experiment. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.). But now, Harvard says its delaying the study to examine the impact on Sweden itself, as well as the indigenous Sami people who live in the region. .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;}}These Are the 13 Biggest Planes in the World, Why Russian Hybrid Warfare Failed in Ukraine, Three Nifty Hacks to Make Drilling Easier, Whats New With F1 Tires for the 2023 Season, Memes Could Save Us From Superintelligent Machines, The Secret War to Take out Iran's F-14 Fighters, Meet the E-7 Wedgetail, the Air Forces New Plane, Report: Pilot Error Ruined a $112 Million F-35 Jet. 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. Large scale use of the processknown as solar geoengineeringis a "terrifying" concept that is only likely to be used in the future if significant regions of the planet become too warm to be habitable, Harvard University Professor Frank Keutsch told The Times. Just as quickly as it was announced, a controversial solar geoengineering experiment backed by Bill Gates has been postponed until at least 2022. The claim first surfaced in 2021 and has been previously debunked. Proponents of so-called solar geoengineering, such as tech billionaire Bill Gates, say techniques intended to block a portion of the solar radiation reaching the planet ought to be considered. Suggests a January traffic accident involving lab monkeys was responsible for spreading monkeypox to humans. Outdoor experiments can provide in situ perspective that is impossible to obtain in the laboratory and SCoPEx can help us validate important model parameters that have yet to been tested against measurements. It's also easy to use and compact in size, making it easy to store when not needed. Bill Gates is working on a way to block the sun's rays so we prevent global warming. The geoengineering project is an attempt to cool the earth's overall temperature. The experiment would measure the risks and effectiveness of the technology and is not an effort at widespread implementation. Advertisement - story continues below Now, apparently, he wants to save us from the sun. In a future test, the team is planning to use a high-altitude balloon to lift a package holding calcium carbonate approximately 20 km into the atmosphere. For these reasons, and because SCoPEx does not from a factual standpoint actually dim or block the sun, we rate the claim that Gates is funding research that "would help block out the sun" as "Mostly False.". David Keith, a professor of applied physics and public policy at Harvard University, recognizes the very many real concerns of geoengineering. The project revolves around the concept of geoengineering, large-scale efforts to reducethe effects of climate change usually temporarily on oceans, soils and atmosphere. In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts. 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. If the plan is green-lit, a high-altitude balloon would disperse the mineral dust to study the viability, and risks, of solar geoengineering. ", Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. Solar geoengineering is a subfield of geoengineering, which refers to efforts to alter the environment to limit the effects of climate change. Neither is it desirable, ethical, or politically governable.. Bill Gates and Harvard want scientists to study solar geoengineering. The high conversion efficiency 100 watt PV panel can charge 12v /24v batteries, and it comes with a portable folding suitcase. Scientists' concerns with solar radiation management generally fall into two categories: unknowns about potential unintended consequences in the global climate system, and the possibility such a solution, by providing a technological fix, would encourage further fossil fuel use in lieu of sustainable changes.