Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University and Harvard University have determined safe levels of aerosol emissions to the atmosphere to reflect sunlight and reduce the rise in global warming. In other words, solar geoengineering can be applied as the only effective method of dealing with the effects of climate change without harming the environment. This was announced in a press release on Phys.org.
Researchers have developed a climate model for extreme rainfall and tropical cyclones to determine the effects of geoengineering in different regions of the Earth. Temperature and precipitation extremes, freshwater availability and hurricane intensity were identified.
Cutting global temperature rise in half by intentionally releasing aerosols has been shown to cool the planet, mitigate changes in water supply and precipitation in many places, and offset more than 85 percent of the increase in natural disasters. At the same time, less than 0.5 percent of the territory will experience negative consequences from the use of geoengineering. These regions are characterized by resistance to global warming.
According to scientists, the results of the study refute the view that aerosols can significantly worsen the situation with the climate. To prevent a negative effect, it is necessary to correctly calculate their permissible amount emitted into the atmosphere.
Another way to avoid the catastrophic consequences of climate change is to immediately reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, a number of scientists believe that humanity has almost no chance of avoiding a climatic catastrophe caused by an increase in the average temperature of the Earth by more than 1.5 degrees. Warming can only be stopped in the highly unlikely scenario of decommissioning all power plants, factories and even cars.