Heist movies are seldom about solving climate change, and for a good reason. Nobody wants to hear a voice murmur from the back seat as George Clooney tears down the highway with a dump truck full of stolen diamonds “Hey, let’s crush these sparkle-puppies into powder and scatter them through the stratosphere to cool the planet.”
However, a team of researchers, led by climate scientist Sandro Vattioni from ETH Zurich in Switzerland, have done the math on which materials would be most suitable for a stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) method of global cooling, concluding that a few hundred trillion dollars’ worth of diamond nanoparticles could be a viable solution.
Before you start looking for a wise-cracking safe-cracker, a silent contortionist, and a wily femme fatale to carry out this “heist,” it’s important to note that nobody is suggesting SAI is the preferred way to avoid future climate catastrophe. Safer, far cheaper options, like reducing fossil-fuel combustion, remain at the forefront of climate solutions.
Nevertheless, research like this study is worth exploring for several reasons. It could help us prepare for worst-case scenarios, avoid costly mistakes, or even provide insights into the atmospheric conditions of distant exoplanets far from Earth.
For decades, scientists have pondered whether injecting reflective particles into the atmosphere could cast enough shade to counteract the warming effects of excess greenhouse gases. One of the most-discussed materials is sulfur dioxide (SO2), which is naturally present in volcanic emissions and has provided researchers with natural experiments for study.
Injecting tens of millions of tonnes of SO2 gas into the atmosphere would likely lower global temperatures by a couple of degrees, but the potential side effects could be severe. Ozone depletion, stratospheric warming, and the return of acid rain are just a few of the consequences that would need to be considered.
Now, Vattioni and his team are arguing that sulfur particles may not be the best choice for reflective material after all. By analyzing the movements, thermodynamics, and chemistry of seven hypothetical aerosols in climate models, the researchers ranked each candidate based on its ability to absorb heat, reflect sunlight, and avoid forming toxic substances.
One key factor the researchers focused on was how well the particles would stay suspended in the atmosphere. Particles that settle too quickly might not reflect enough sunlight to effectively cool the planet, while those that clump together could trap heat, warming the stratosphere and potentially altering air currents and moisture levels.
In their study, the researchers compared seven different materials: two types of titanium dioxide, alumina, calcite, diamond, silicon carbide, and sulfur dioxide. The surprising winner? Diamonds. According to the findings, injecting 5 million tons of diamond nanoparticles, each measuring 150 nanometers in width, could deliver the desired cooling effect.
Diamonds, the study found, wouldn’t clump together, would remain airborne long enough to be effective, and wouldn’t react with other substances to form harmful byproducts like acid rain.
On the other hand, sulfur dioxide fared poorly in comparison. The only material that performed worse was a type of titanium dioxide called rutile, which showed no cooling benefits whatsoever.
While diamonds may be a superior option in terms of performance, the cost is prohibitive. At an estimated $600,000 per megatonne, compared to $250 per megatonne for sulfur, the total cost for diamond-based aerosol injection would quickly escalate into the tens or even hundreds of trillions of dollars.
Given the challenges of applying lab measurements and computer models to real-world conditions, the study’s findings are far from a guaranteed solution. If anything, the research highlights just how far we are from implementing SAI as a viable solution to global warming.
So, while this hypothetical method might make for an entertaining plot twist in a future heist movie, it’s clear that reducing fossil fuel use and developing safer, more practical climate solutions remain our best bet for combating climate change.
The findings of this study were published in Geophysical Research Letters.
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