{"id":87282,"date":"2025-05-09T11:55:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T11:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/87282\/"},"modified":"2025-05-09T11:55:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T11:55:09","slug":"sun-dimming-experiments-will-take-place-as-scientists-attempt-to-change-britains-clouds-and-let-in-less-sunshine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/87282\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Sun-dimming’ experiments WILL take place as scientists attempt to change Britain’s clouds and let in less sunshine"},"content":{"rendered":"

A \u00a357million-valued fund for a controversial scheme aimed at “dimming the Sun” and slowing global warming<\/a> has been given the green light.<\/p>\n

The Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria) will fund 21 projects, including five outdoor trials, expected to begin in 2027.<\/p>\n

These experiments<\/a> will test methods to manipulate Earth’s climate by reflecting sunlight away from our planet.<\/p>\n

Techniques include injecting aerosols into the atmosphere and “brightening clouds” to combat rising global temperatures.<\/p>\n

One of the approaches being tested is Marine Cloud Brightening, which involves ships spraying saltwater into the sky.<\/p>\n

This process enhances the reflectivity of low-lying clouds by forcing water droplets to come together – making them more reflective.<\/p>\n

\"Sunrise\"\/<\/p>\n

Aria will fund 21 projects, including five outdoor trials, expected to begin in 2027<\/p>\n

PA<\/p>\n

Professor Mark Symes, Aria’s programme director, said: “You may indeed not be able to see any effect from the ground at all, but you should be able to measure it using equipment that flies through the cloud.”<\/p>\n

Indoor tests will be conducted before outdoor trials begin in winter 2027-2028 at as-yet-undecided locations.<\/p>\n

Another University of Cambridge-led project receiving funding is Stratospheric Aerosol Injection.<\/p>\n

This involves releasing tiny particles, typically sulphur dioxide, into the stratosphere using planes to reflect sunlight away from Earth.<\/p>\n

Scientists at Yale University have already proposed using this approach at the north and south poles to reverse ice loss.<\/p>\n

And similar experiments have already taken place elsewhere – in March 2023, scientists launched a high-altitude weather balloon which released sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere.<\/p>\n

LATEST SCIENCE NEWS:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Sunset<\/p>\n

Cambridge University professor Mike Hulme has warned that Aria is leading the world down a ‘slippery slope’<\/p>\n

PA<\/p>\n

In high levels, sulphur dioxide can lead to serious health problems – including damage to airways and lungs.<\/p>\n

And some scientists have raised serious concerns about the “climate manipulation” tech.<\/p>\n

Mike Hulme, a professor of human geography at the University of Cambridge, warned that Aria is leading the world down a “slippery slope”.<\/p>\n

“\u00a357m is a huge amount of taxpayers’ money to be spent on this assortment of speculative technologies intended to manipulate the Earth’s climate,” he told the Telegraph.<\/p>\n

\"Sunset\"\/<\/p>\n

Prof Hulme has also warned of ‘unwanted side-effects’ behind the scheme<\/p>\n

PA<\/p>\n

“Just because they ‘work’ in a model, or at a micro-scale in the lab or the sky, does not mean they will cool the climate safely, without unwanted side-effects, in the real world.”<\/p>\n

Prof Hulme further cautioned: “There is therefore no way that this research can demonstrate that the technologies are safe, successful or reversible.”<\/p>\n

And Dr Naomi Vaughan, professor of climate change at the University of East Anglia, warned that sunlight reflecting methods could create a “new risk” to society.<\/p>\n

Potential unintended consequences of these technologies include regional droughts, crop failures and shifts to the Atlantic jet stream – the latter of which could drag hurricanes and tropical diseases northward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A \u00a357million-valued fund for a controversial scheme aimed at “dimming the Sun” and slowing global warming has been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3844],"tags":[12,70,512,413,16,1259,15,741],"class_list":{"0":"post-87282","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-sgg","11":"tag-space","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-uk-news","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-weather"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}