The California City Council has blocked a dangerous solar geoengineering experiment conducted by researchers from the University of Washington to combat climate change.
Following a vote by the City Council, an experiment in Alameda that involved spraying sea salt particles into the air to test the viability of slowing global warming was abandoned due to safety concerns.
As part of their Marine Cloud Brightening Program, researchers from the University of Washington conducted a climatic experiment on the flight deck of the USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum in Alameda to find out if salt particles can raise the sun reflectance of clouds.
Following press reports about the misting procedure last month, including one from the New York Times that stunned Alameda Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft, the city decided to call off the trial. Authorities in Alameda claimed that the experiment was going on without their knowledge and that it was outside the terms of the city’s lease with the Hornet.
The USS Hornet, according to Ashcraft, simply gave the city advance notice that a museum partner “will be doing climate change science (misting down the length of our Flight Deck to study “cloud” patterns).”
The City Council heard from scholars and interested members of the public, some of whom called in from across the globe, during an hours-long discussion that began Tuesday evening and finished early on Wednesday morning. Some users expressed outrage and anxiety regarding the trials, while others said they were essential in addressing the effects of climate change.
The main points of contention in the discussion are the potential unforeseen effects of implementing such technologies on a global scale and the controversy surrounding geoengineering techniques including weather modification, carbon dioxide removal, and solar radiation control.
The city council’s decision to not renew the experiment disappointed researchers with the Coastal Aerosol Research and Engagement (CAARE) Program, who said in a statement that the experiment was not intended to change clouds or any other aspect of the local weather or climate and was not a cloud-brightening initiative. To evaluate and enhance models used to analyze the atmosphere and climate, the research looked at the movement and dispersion of sea salt particles.
“The sea-salt studies involved spraying very small quantities of sea-salt mist. The City of Alameda engaged a team of experts to independently evaluate the health and environmental safety of the CAARE Program’s sea-salt studies, which found that they are not expected to result in any adverse health or environmental effects,” the statement said. “We provided extensive data to their process and all of the experts engaged affirmed the safety of the sea-salt spray involved in the studies. These supported our evaluation that this is a safe, publicly accessible way to further research on aerosols in the atmosphere, to support environmental goals, and to promote education and equity in science.”
According to an evaluation of the experiment conducted in March for the university, these small-scale investigations “fall below certain regulatory thresholds… and produce an aerosol perturbation of a scale that will not measurably alter local or regional weather or climate.”
However, members of the City Council claimed that their objection to the experiment was motivated more by a lack of transparency on the part of the researchers than by a disagreement with the science.
“We have been playing catch up [with researchers], and I did appreciate that eventually, the [non-profit climate research group] Silver Lining person reached out to me, but it was two months after the experiment began,” said Ezzy Ashcraft. “And so we just had a lot of concerns from our residents about the health implications … So we need to know more about this before you come to our city and start the experiments.”
In addition, the mayor expressed her hope that scholars would utilize the City Council’s ruling “as a teachable moment and understand wherever you go next, you know, here’s how you should do things and here’s the way you sure shouldn’t.”
“We strongly welcome Alameda City Council’s unanimous decision to say no to the first open-air Marine Cloud Brightening experiment in the U.S.,” said Mary Church with the Center for International Environmental Law in a prepared statement. “Key concerns raised by council members focused on lack of sufficient information, notice and transparency. The rejection rightfully reflects the gravity of what’s at stake for both local and global communities.”
Last year, GreatGameIndia reported that Make Sunsets, Luke Iseman’s startup with at least $500,000 in venture capital, has been conducting geoengineering experiments to cool the Earth.
You can read the report below:
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