Scientists Secretly Working on Plan to Test Blocking Sun From Huge Area of Earth

Scientists are racing to find potential ways to slow down global warming, going far as to investigate ways to dim the Sun.

The concept, known as solar geoengineering, has proven incredibly controversial in the past, with critics arguing that we simply don't know enough about the risks, including the environmental and societal impacts of tinkering with the climate. Proponents don't necessarily disagree, but they say the situation is already so bad that we need to consider drastic action, even if there is the potential for immense risk.

In that charged environment, the sometimes secretive ways scientists have been going about early geoengineering experiments are leaving the door wide open for mounting backlash and even conspiracy theories.

Last year, blindsided city officials in Alameda, California, ordered scientists from the University of Washington to halt an unannounced experiment using a device that would inject cloud-brightening particles into the atmosphere, citing fears of unintended consequences.

And now, according to extensive records obtained by Politico, it turns out the aborted experiment was meant to set the stage for a much larger-scale program that would have covered a 3,900-square-mile area — about the size of Puerto Rico — off the coast of North America, Chile, or south-central Africa.

"At such scales, meaningful changes in clouds will be readily detectable from space," one 2023 report obtained by the publication reads.

But as experts told Politico, the University of Washington and its private partners, geoengineering firm SilverLining and nonprofit SRI International, didn't exactly set themselves up for success.

"Alameda was a stepping stone to something much larger, and there wasn’t any engagement with local communities," University of California, Santa Cruz, environmental studies professor Sikina Jinnah told the outlet. "That’s a serious misstep."

However, university officials maintained that the program never aimed to "alter weather or climate," and that there weren't any "plans for conducting large-scale studies," either.

Geoengineering has proven incredibly divisive, quickly turning into a hot-button political subject. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who has a long track record of furthering unsubstantiated conspiracy theories, mistakenly blamed the deadly flood in Texas in early July on geoengineering, without providing any evidence. Later this month, she introduced "weather modification" legislation based on the conspiracy theory.

Discussions have even filtered to the top, with EPA administrator Lee Zeldin entertaining legislation motivated by long-debunked conspiracy theories surrounding "chemtrails."

Even huge swathes of the scientific community aren't convinced that dimming the Sun is the answer, citing unknown knock-on risks that could make the cure worse than the disease.

They also often argue that geoengineering could serve as a band-aid fix, allowing world leaders to ignore the immediate causes of climate change, including the burning of fossil fuels and other sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

Those in support of efforts to dim the Sun argue we need to leave no stone unturned in our efforts to battle a growing climate crisis.

"At a time when scientists are facing political attacks and drastic funding cuts, we need to complement a rapid energy transition with more research into a broad range of potential climate solutions," cryptocurrency billionaire Chris Larsen, who donated to the University of Washington's program, told Politico.

Where all of this leaves the university and its private partner's early experiments to seed clouds remains to be seen. Despite billions in funding from some notable donors, including the cofounder of Intel, the political opposition and public backlash could make it difficult for the project to get off the ground.

However, similar geoengineering projects outside of the United States could continue where the program left off. Earlier this year, the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency announced it would invest $60 million in five small climate-cooling research projects, including "marine cloud brightening" to make them reflect more sunlight, refreezing the Arctic by pumping seawater from below the ice to the surface, and releasing aerosols into the stratosphere.

But getting the public on their side, particularly given how little even experts understand about the potential environmental impacts, could end up being a steep hill to climb.

More on geoengineering: Scientists Preparing Experiments to Dim the Sun