. released into the stratosphere to reflect the sun's light back into space, theoretically cooling the planet. Headlines or statements to the contrary rely on "slippery slope" arguments about geoengineering in general, not a fear that SCoPEx itself could destroy the world. Although . Remember the 2010 eruption of an Icelandic volcano that blocked the entire sky all the way into Europe? No one is suggesting we spray the clouds with calcium carbonate tomorrow, or even 10 years from now. We do not approve legitimising development towards solar geoengineering technology, nor for it to be conducted in or above our lands, territories and skies, nor in any ecosystems anywhere, the signatories stated in a letter drafted by the Saami Council, which represents indigenous Saami people across Scandinavia and in Russia. Bill Gates and Harvard want scientists to study solar geoengineering. While Gates is one of geoengineering research's most significant (at least in financial terms) champions, his funding of this research does not stem from a desire to implement so-called "last-ditch" solutions. Such geoengineering . Yet the debate over solar geoengineering is likely to persist, as it enjoys the backing of wealthy individuals such as Gates, and the support of key scientific institutions, including the powerful U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which is urging the U.S. government to set up a federal research program to advance the technologies to the tune of up to $200 million. Bill Gates Is Thinking About Dimming the Sun In late 2022, the startup Make Sunsets announced that it was injecting small amounts of aerosols into the stratosphere as an experiment in solar. The World Economic Forum has its own police force. Fluoride.. To do so, scientists need to determine whether there are aerosols that could reduce or eliminate ozone loss without increasing the chance of other risks. But theres another nightmare: Its that after bringing emissions to zero, we realize in hindsight that early use of geoengineering could have saved millions of lives lost in heat waves and helped preserve some of the natural world," Keith wrote in an op-ed published in the Boston Globe. 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. NO MORE CROPS, NO FOOD, NO PLANTS NO NOTHING!!! We may earn commission if you buy from a link. British scientists have cited stratospheric aerosols from volcanic eruptions in Alaska and Mexico as the potential cause of drought in Africas Sahel region. of Solar Radiation Management," Jan. 25, 2015, Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society, "Stratospheric controlled perturbation experiment: a small-scale experiment to improve understanding of the risks of solar geoengineering," 2014, PolitiFact, "No, Bill Gates did not outline 2018 plan to depopulate the planet," May 3, 2018, PolitiFact, "No, the Gates Foundation isnt pushing microchips with all medical procedures," May 20, 2020, Popular Mechanics, "Bill Gates Will Have to Wait a While to Block the Sun," April 12, 2021, Popular Mechanics, "Bill Gates Is Thinking About Dimming the Sun," March 26, 2021, Poynter, "Claims that Bill Gates is going to block the sun lack context," April 15, 2021, Scientific American, "Solar Geoengineering Should be Investigated, Scientists Say," March 26, 2021, Snopes, "Is Bill Gates Funding Efforts To Block The Sun?" The name of the project is SCoPEx, or, Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment . In 2007, Gates created a grant-making research fund known as the Fund for Innovative Climate and Energy Research (FICER). So what does this mean for SCoPEx, and for solar geoengineering in general? As Keutsch has pointed out, this is not a fringe view, it is one held by several scientific bodies. "Bill Gates is attempting to block the sun in order to keep the Earth more cool." Days later, on Monday night, Tucker Carlson dog-whistled to conspiracy theorists, telling Fox News viewers that "your body" is "Bill Gates' body now," because the Microsoft founder is helping to fund global COVID-19 vaccination efforts. Such statements describe popularly held concerns about the concept of geoengineering as a whole. Now, a recycled claim says Gates aims go even higher literally. Now, that's just an insurance policy; you hope you don't need to do that. Update 01/22/2022 GMT1240: This post has been updated to clarify the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiatives stance on solar geoengineering technologies, as noted by C2G executive director Janos Pasztor. ", Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. 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. Opponents believe such science comes with unpredictable risks, including extreme shifts in weather patterns not dissimilar to warming trends we are already witnessing. One of the more controversial suggestions is that we should simply prevent so much heat reaching Earth in the first place. So, is all of this a good idea or not? Ultimately, Gates' involvement is financial. First, they point to the unknown risks: deploying solar geoengineering tech could backfire, potentially catastrophically. #BillGates is buying out all of the farmlands and trying to figure out ways to block out the SUN for THREE DAYS!!! Solar geoengineering, also known as radiation management, is based on the idea of using technologies to fight climate change by reflecting sunlight back into space. But the SCoPEx website says the current project's scope remains limited. 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. Three doctors from the same hospital die suddenly in the same week, after the hospital mandated a fourth COVID-19 vaccine for employees. As such, the solar geoengineering technology used for SCoPEx is still at a theoretical stage as of . Her favorite topics include nuclear energy, cosmology, math of everyday things, and the philosophy of it all. Official govt docs expose Michelle Obamas 14 year history as a man., "Woody Harrelsons 60 seconds in the middle of his monologue was cut out of the edits released after the show., BREAKING Trump preps Marines to stop presidential coup.. The project revolves around the concept of geoengineering, large-scale efforts to reducethe effects of climate change usually temporarily on oceans, soils and atmosphere. For his part, SCoPEx researcher and Harvard Professor Frank Keutsch has argued that concerns like these are unsupported by scientific research and motivated more by fears about geoengineering being a problematic, pro-fossil fuel solution to global warming. 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. Both need to be studied, and likely more. "It is not a test of solar geoengineering per se," the SCoPEx website says on its website. Scientists have devised multiple ways to block sunlight from reaching Earths atmosphere or surface. You'll get everything you need in one, includingan100W solar panel, 30A PWM negative ground charge controller, MC4 connectors, a8Ft 10 AWG tray cable, and mounting Z brackets for an RV or boat. The launch will not release any stratospheric aerosols. The claim that solar geoengineering is an effort to "block out the sun" is inaccurate; the technology is a riff on a naturally occurring process. Brain Organoids Are Alive, But Are They Conscious? We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. With assistance from Hayley Arlin and James Grant. 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. The project at issue in several sensationalized news stories, SCoPEx, is an experiment designed to collect data for the purpose of refining computer models that simulate solar radiation management, not to implement an actual test of the practice. Bill Gates, who recently suggested the world should eat 100 percent synthetic beef and said bitcoin is bad for the planet, has set his sights on a new foe: the sun. Hopefully, the different groups involved can come to an understanding and develop a pilot experiment that more people feel is ethically sound. Instead, the balloon would test properties of the hardware and software needed for future trials, including propellers, power, data, navigation and the communication systems. With Bill Gates attempt to block out the sun, I dont believe Texas winter storm was a fluke . Anyone new to solar panels should start with a good kit, like this one by Renology. The claim among Twitter users is that Gates' involvement with the academic project is somehow nefarious, and that he ultimately wants to "block the sun" from the Earth. Gates is one of SCoPEx's funders, but he is not participating in the project's research. To refine these models, scientists need to know how the aerosols interact with the atmosphere on a nanoscale. Gates did not create such a plan. As previously detailed by Snopes, a fact-checking organization, the assertion is largely based on sensationalist reports about the scope and ability of the SCoPEx project. It is not a test of solar geoengineering per se. At its core, SCoPEx seeks to better understand the efficacy and risks of solar geoengineering. For now, research into the field is fairly limited. The Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (SCoPEx) will spray a special calcium dust into the sky in order to reflect sunlight back into space. BBC News edited out boos in footage of Boris Johnson arriving at the Queens Platinum Jubilee thanksgiving service. Meanwhile, for a new prepublication report, the NASEM convened a committee of 16 international science luminaries to develop solar geoengineering research. The project is supported in part by philanthropist Bill Gates through SEAS's Solar Geoengineering Research Program. radiation, lowering the Earth's temperature by 0.6 degrees Celsius (33.08 degrees Fahrenheit.)