{"id":28134,"date":"2017-11-18T08:22:39","date_gmt":"2017-11-18T13:22:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=28134"},"modified":"2017-11-18T08:22:39","modified_gmt":"2017-11-18T13:22:39","slug":"should-we-try-to-fix-global-warming-with-fake-volcanic-eruptions-tbd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=28134","title":{"rendered":"Should we try to fix global warming with fake volcanic eruptions? TBD."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Should we try to fix global warming with fake volcanic eruptions? TBD.<\/a><\/h3>\n

There could be unintended consequences.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 sent planet-cooling aerosols into the atmosphere. Photo by Arlan Naeg\/AFP\/Getty Images.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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By <\/em>Mary Beth Griggs<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

With heat-trapping carbon emissions on the rise again<\/a>, researchers are looking for ways to turn down the thermostat<\/a> while humanity gets itself under control. One potential solution? Try to copy volcanic eruptions. But in addition to adjusting the temperature, such practices could change the frequency of hurricanes, or the location of droughts.<\/p>\n

When explosive volcanic eruptions occur\u200a\u2014\u200alike the one at Mount Pinatubo in 1991\u200a\u2014\u200athey send small particles of ash and gas high into the atmosphere. These so-called aerosols block and reflect sunlight, providing a temporary cold compress to the Earth\u2019s rising temperatures.<\/p>\n

After years of watching volcanos go through the motions, some researchers are looking into whether they can use that same method to help cool down the planet\u200a\u2014\u200aan idea known as solar geoengineering<\/a>. But a set of studies published this month show just how complicated a proposition that might be.<\/p>\n

\u201cSulfur dioxide is emitted by volcanic eruptions. It\u2019s also relatively cheap and relatively common, so it\u2019s the natural candidate for solar geoengineering,\u201d says Anthony Jones, author of a recent Nature Communications<\/em> study<\/a> on the subject. \u201cIt\u2019s basically copying a volcanic eruption, and then extending the injection of the aerosols into the atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sulfur dioxide is a common occupant of the dramatic cloud that follows an Earthly eruption, and when it gets into the atmosphere it expands and reacts with other chemicals\u200a\u2014\u200aincluding water\u200a\u2014\u200ato form aerosol particles, which can reflect sunlight back into space and cool the Earth below.<\/p>\n

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…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Should we try to fix global warming with fake volcanic eruptions? TBD. There could be unintended consequences.\u00a0 The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 sent planet-cooling aerosols into the atmosphere. Photo by Arlan Naeg\/AFP\/Getty Images. By Mary Beth Griggs With heat-trapping carbon emissions on the rise again, researchers are looking for ways to turn down […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[141,17111,1741,369,14273,3067],"class_list":["post-28134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment","tag-climate-change","tag-fake-volcanic-eruptions","tag-geoengineering","tag-global-warming","tag-medium","tag-unintended-consequences"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28134"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28135,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28134\/revisions\/28135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}