Testing how the sulfur aerosols geoengineering scheme’s increase in diffuse light has a negativeaffect on global warming
Executive Summary
Injecting sulfur aerosols into the stratosphere has been proposed as a geoengineeringscheme for slowing the rate of global warming. Currently, the global temperature is increasing ata rate that cannot sustain future populations. A main cause of global warming is an increase ingreenhouse gases that trap the sun’s longwave radiation in the atmosphere. Spraying sulfur aerosols into the stratosphere is intended to combat this problem by using the sulfate haze to physically block and reflect the sunlight away from the Earth’s surface. However, since this planis intended to be implemented on a global scale, there are bound to be unintended consequences.For example, these consequences include changes in cryosphere, changes in the hydrologicalcycle, and carbon cycle. I expect to find that it adversely affects the carbon cycle and worsensglobal warming.1
Testing how the sulfur aerosols geoengineering scheme’s increase in diffuse light has a negativeaffect on global warming
Introduction
Problem Description
The Earth is essentially one great ecosystem composed of a diverse selection of organisms. Various biogeochemical cycles link these inhabitants to each other, so the actions of one group of organisms can have a large impact on the others. One such action that has receivedmuch attention recently is anthropogenic climate change. For thousands of years, humaninnovation has been growing in leaps and bounds. Unfortunately, this method of survival is notsustainable.Ever since the Industrial Revolution, human innovation has involved burning increasingamounts of fossil fuels for energy, transportation, and manufacturing practices. The world hasseen a marked increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, a large component of which iscarbon dioxide (see Figure 1). Greenhouse gases are responsible for keeping the planet at a warm2
1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 20000100020003000400050006000700080009000Year AD
T o t a l c a r b o n e m i s s i o n s f r o m f o s s i l - f u e l s ( m i l l i o n m e t r i c t o n s )
Figure 1. Global carbon dioxide emissions from human activities, 1751-2006. The increase inanthropogenic CO
2
coincides with the start of the Industrial Revolution (Marland
et al.
).
Testing how the sulfur aerosols geoengineering scheme’s increase in diffuse light has a negativeaffect on global warmingand habitable temperature by absorbing some of the longwave radiation that has reflected off theEarth’s surface . Usually, this is not a point of concern, but the alarming increase in greenhousegases has meant that more heat gets trapped in the atmosphere, thus increasing the globaltemperature range. The global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F)during the last century . Higher temperatures have caused the glaciers to melt at an increasinglyfaster rate, which has in turn resulted in rising sea levels . In addition, the recession of theglaciers has only exacerbated global warming, since there is less surface area that reflectslongwave radiation away from the Earth. Also, the IPCC (2007) reports that rising temperatureshave increased the rate of evaporation and the intensity of weather events (i.e. wet regionsreceive more rainfall while dry regions receive more droughts). An increase in the intensity of weather events would bring about drastic social consequences (e.g. a drought could signal theend of a third-world country).However, scientists have only recently uncovered the true direness of the situation. Upuntil recently, most global climate models have only accounted for the greenhouse effect, but didnot factor in “global dimming.” While the Industrial Revolution increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, it also increased the amount of sulfates . These sulfatesformed a haze that physically shielded the surface of the Earth from the sun and formed morereflective clouds . The decrease in surface solar radiation (SSR) counteracted the warming effectof greenhouse gases and is responsible for the absence of significant temperature increases between the 1950’s and 1980’s . On the other hand, as a result of the public’s caution aboutreducing sulfates and pollution in the air, the amount of SSR has been increasing since the1980’s, so the temperature has risen 0.38 °C per decade . Without the dimming effect to mask thefull extent of global warming, the Earth has warmed at an even quicker rate . If all sulfate3
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Testing how the sulfur aerosols geoengineering scheme's increase in diffuse light has a negative affect on global warming
An essay for the 2012 Undergraduate Awards (International Programme) Competition by Connie Chan. Originally submitted for Ecology I: The Earth System at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with lecturer Penny Chisholm in the category of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences
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