In the United States, more precisely in Alameda, California, a geoengineering experiment has begun solar radiation management, which the organizers themselves kept secret for fear that activists might stop it. Last Tuesday, the machine was put into operation from a decommissioned aircraft carrier in San Francisco Bay which, until May, will shoot trillions of sea salt particles into the sky in an attempt to increase the density of clouds and their reflective capacity. The CAARE (Coastal Atmospheric Aerosol Research and Engagement) project would be the first outdoor experiment of such geoengineering technology which aims to reduce the temperature by shielding the sun’s rays. The category that includes geoengineering techniques and technologies that aim to reflect solar radiation, solar modification radiation (SRM), is certainly the most criticized of all for its invasive impact and the unknown ecological and social consequences and repercussions.
The organizers of the experiment decided to maintain maximum secrecy about it for fear that activists could stop it, as recently happened at Harvard University and its SCoPEx project (short for “stratospheric controlled perturbation experiment”), which was supposed to take place in Sweden. The CAARE project (Coastal Atmospheric Aerosol Research and Engagement) did not reveal itself to the public until, from the deck of a decommissioned aircraft carrier in San Francisco Bay, a device similar to a snow generator began to rumble until it emitted, at great speed, a thin fog composed of tiny particles of sea salt, traveling hundreds of meters in the air. It is said to be the first outdoor test in the United States of technology designed to illuminate clouds and bounce the sun’s rays back into space. The University of Washington and SilverLining, a geoengineering research support group, are involved in the experiment. The trial will last until the end of May.
“The world needs to rapidly advance its understanding of the effects of aerosol particles on climate,” said Kelly Wanser, executive director of SilverLining, in a press release. The University of Washington instead issued a statement in which it exalts its commitment to science integrated with social commitment. We note a certain disconnect between the University’s statement and the decision to keep the experiment secret until its completion for fear of possible criticism and/or activist actions. Although the Biden administration is funding research on several climate interventions, including geoengineering technologies that fall into the category of solar modification radiation (SRM), lin the White House he distanced himself from the Californian studysending a declaration to New York Times which states: “The United States Government is not involved in the solar radiation modification (SRM) experiment taking place in Alameda, California, or anywhere else.”
Greg Goldsmith, associate dean for research and development at Chapman University noted that the its potential ecological impacts are not mentioned in the CAARE project, a key consideration recommended by a 2022 Biden Administration Marine Cloud Lighting Workshop. “History has shown us that when we engage in the modification of nature, there are always very serious unintended consequences. And so, it would be prudent to listen to what history has shown and look for consequences,” said Goldsmith, who studies the implications of climate change for plant structure and function. David Santillo, senior scientist at Greenpeace International, is deeply skeptical of proposals to modify solar radiation, as the consequences they would be difficult to predict, or even to measure. «Climate patterns could change, not only at sea, but also on land. This is a frightening vision of the future that we should try to avoid at all costs,” Santillo said.
Geoengineering is no longer taboo and there are those who believe that millions, or rather billions of dollars will soon pour into this technological sector. Many projects and experiments are already underway in the United States as in the rest of the world: from carbon reduction and absorption techniques, to fertilization and modification of marine environments, up to solar radiation management techniques, such as the one just exposed in this item. Precisely on this latest geoengineering technique, in the month of January, at the San Francisco offices of the Environmental Defense Fund (which has publicly supported research on geoengineering since 2011), around thirty scientists, (false) environmental activists and philanthropists, they met privately to discuss how prepare for Silicon Valley’s expected funding surge on these technologies. Karen Orenstein, director of the Climate and Energy Justice Program at Friends of the Earth US, a nonprofit environmental group, called changing solar radiation “an extraordinarily dangerous distraction.”
The very idea of wanting to drastically intervene on the Earth’s environment, in relation to its relationship with the Sun, without intervening in the slightest on human processes which would be the determinant of “climate change”, is in itself a source of numerous criticisms. Furthermore, the ecological and social consequences of such a modification of the earth’s environment are unknown, which is a source of further ethical and scientific criticism.
[di Michele Manfrin]
