Local use of geoengineering methods can harm the inhabitants of other regions of the Earth.
Researchers from the UK and the US predicted the consequences of an attempt to "cool" the Earth by artificially simulating a volcanic eruption. According to scientists, an artificial cataclysm could increase the number of cyclones and droughts in some regions of the planet.
It is known that many large volcanic eruptions were followed by significant cooling. During an eruption, the volcano throws out a stream of suspended solid particles - aerosol - into the air. These particles collect in a cloud, which absorbs some of the solar radiation, and the temperature drops. For example, with the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, the global temperature dropped by 0.5–0.7 ° C. In recent years, a number of researchers have proposed to reproduce such an event artificially by throwing sulfate aerosols into the stratosphere. The method is called stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI). It is one of the most famous geoengineering technologies.
Says lead author Anthony Jones, "Our research shows that regional solar geoengineering is a highly risky strategy that can both benefit one region and harm another."
The devastating effect of interference can manifest itself at a distance of thousands of kilometers from an artificial eruption. Scientists have modeled a scenario in which an aerosol "injection" in the Northern Hemisphere should reduce the intensity of tropical cyclones like Hurricane Katrina. When creating the model, the Earth's atmosphere was "divided" into several tens of layers interacting with each other. It turned out that such an intervention would cause more frequent and severe droughts in the Sahel region, sub-Saharan Africa. An aerosol release in the Southern Hemisphere, on the other hand, may amplify tropical cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere.
Researchers point out that if humanity tries to slow down global warming using geoengineering methods, it is worth making a decision about it at the international level. Also, scientists note that today there are no developed norms of international law regulating the methods of geoengineering.
The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.
Natalia Pelezneva
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