One potential method, solar radiation management , seeks to reflect the sun's rays back into space, with the most well-known proposal being to blast sulphur dioxide - a coolant - into the higher reaches of the atmosphere.
Company founder Luke Iseman told Reuters that it was more "straightforward" to start projects in the United States and 30 launches had already taken place, funded by selling "cooling credits" to customers.have been conducted so far, including the launch of a high-altitude weather balloon in southeast England in 2022 to test the viability of aerosol injection equipment.
While these methods were less intrusive and less potentially damaging than stratospheric aerosol injection, they could prove more expensive and too energy-intensive, said Benjamin Sovacool, Professor of Earth and Environment at Boston University, who has studied their potential deployment at the Great Barrier Reef.a comprehensive international assessment
Opponents of the method say that while the injection of sulphate aerosols might cool the planet, the side effects could prove even more destructive. One group of 60 scientists launched alast year aimed at persuading governments to ban outdoor solar geoengineering experiments. The technology could even be weaponised by "rogue states" or unscrupulous private companies and create new geopolitical and security threats, the United Nations Environment Program warned inOpponents also worry the technology could serve as an excuse to delay the shift towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. Crucially, even if SRM interventions successfully keep temperatures down, they will not fix other consequences of rising CO2 levels, like ocean acidification.