The ultra-rich are on a mission to Show more . STOP HIM. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Harvard scientists intend to block out the sun's rays from earth as a way to help stave off climate change. Scientists say this lack of concrete information and consensus is a critical failure that must be corrected with new studies. Solar geoengineering, also known as radiation management, is based on the idea of using technologies to fight climate change by reflecting sunlight back into space. The Harvard scientists had planned to launch a high-altitude balloon from Esrange Space Station in Kiruna, Sweden to test whether it could in future carry equipment to release solar radiation-reflecting particles into the Earths atmosphere, AFP reports. A review is ongoing to determine if the proposed balloon launch alongside the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) can go ahead. Freezing temperatures in 1815 led to failed crops in near-famine conditions. Fact Check: Is Bill Gates Trying to Block the Sun? - Newsweek Climate research, renewables and circularity, Solar engineering would see reflective particles. Instead, it will observe how particles interact with one another, with the background stratospheric air, and with solar and infrared radiation. ", Explaining the balancing act, he continued: "People are right to fear over-reliance on technofixes. Meanwhile, for a new prepublication report, the NASEM convened a committee of 16 international science luminaries to develop solar geoengineering research. The conservative news website The Western Journal reported in December last year that Gates' plan for the project included "blotting out the sun to make the world cooler," citing a Reuters report about the scientists applying for a test flight experiment in June 2021. Briefly, it is true that Gates has funded research that includes theoretical studies into the feasibility of solar radiation management. Widespread use of technology that dims natural sunlight to help fight climate change should only be used as a last resort, scientists have warned. In a December 2020 Boston Globe editorial, he wrote: Why the sharp divergence between media and science? Considering the unknown risks attached to solar geoengineering, OECD members should continue in their efforts to develop economically attractive renewable energy technology, even as it supplements such efforts with limited and careful research and experimentation. 801 3rd St. S The ultimate aim is not to roll out some major solar geoengineering apparatus, but to collect data that will better inform computer models, researchers said. One that has persisted in recent weeks involves an experiment by a team of scientists at Harvard University, known as the Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (SCoPEx), that is testing aerosols that might be relevant to solar geoengineering. The post also claims: "Geo engineering is actually a thing and Bill Gates has been backed to try and 'block out the sun'." According to the Met Office, geoengineering is the "deliberate large-scale manipulation of climate". The project revolves around the concept of geoengineering, large-scale efforts to reducethe effects of climate change usually temporarily on oceans, soils and atmosphere. Next, they say, the technologies could be used by governments or corporations to prevent work on other, less risky methods to combat climate change, such as reducing the use of fossil fuels. The risks of solar geoengineering are poorly understood and can never be fully known, the scholars say. According to Snopes, SCoPEx is also financed by the Fund for Innovative Climate and Energy Research (FICER), a fund for research grants co-created by Gates in 2007. SCoPEx is one of those projects. Some people say you shouldn't even work on the insurance policy because it might make you lazy, that you'll keep eating because you know heart surgery will be there to save you. UK researchers experiment with a solar geoengineering system called No one is suggesting we spray the clouds with calcium carbonate tomorrow, or even 10 years from now. Gates and other private donors are supporting Harvard University's Solar Geoengineering Research Program, which had planned to launch a new study based in Sweden in June researching the. Now, a recycled claim says Gates aims go even higher literally. Measuring the ways that aerosols alter stratospheric chemistry can, for example, improve the ability of global models to predict how large-scale geoengineering could possibly disrupt stratospheric ozone. NO MORE CROPS, NO FOOD, NO PLANTS NO NOTHING!!! The experiment would measure the risks and effectiveness of the technology and is not an effort at widespread implementation. This content is imported from poll. Bill Gates Is Thinking About Dimming the Sun In late 2022, the startup Make Sunsets announced that it was injecting small amounts of aerosols into the stratosphere as an experiment in solar. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. SCoPEx,and geoengineering in general,aresomewhat controversial. SCoPEx is partially funded by Harvard's own Solar Geoengineering Research Program (SGRP), which lists Gates as one of its many philanthropic donors. "We are not, for example, testing whether it's possible to scatter sunlight back to space, because there is no meaningful scientific uncertainty about that question.". Bill Gates' "Block The Sun" Scopex Balloon Launch Experiment In Sweden "Geoengineering is a blanket term for technologies that try to alter Earths physical qualities on the largest scale possible," Popular Mechanics reported. It's made ofPET, EVA and monocrystalline silicon, and it'santi-reflective andhigh transparency. Proponents of solar geoengineering, also known as solar radiation modification, say deployment of the technology could be a shortcut to slow a rise in global temperatures that is stoking more. But even this flight still months away and pending approval from Harvard's outside advisory committee is only a test of the balloon, and would not release its theoretical payload of just under 3 1/2 pounds of calcium carbonate powder. The ultimate aim is to measure how the aerosol alters stratospheric chemistry. Despite simmering on the internet in recent weeks, Google Trends data suggested that people are still searching for answers. A small amount of material is then released to create a "perturbed air mass" about 100 yards wide and a half-mile long. Bill Gates' wealth has allowed him to donate and invest in projects across the globe. But late last month, a Harvard advisory committee that was set up to study the projects ethical implications recommended pushing back the test until a more thorough societal engagement process can be conducted to address issues related to solar geoengineering research in Sweden, Harvard wrote. "It doesn't guarantee they'll make the right decision. Geoengineering Monitor, accessed April 23, David Keith's Research Group at Harvard University, October 19, 2020, ", Keutsch Group at Harvard, accessed April 23, ", Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society, April, 17, 2018, ", Harvard's Solar Geoengineering Research Program, accessed April 23, ", Harvard'sStratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment. False: The claim is demonstrably false. Bill Gates and Harvard want scientists to study solar geoengineering. Bill Gates is now best known as a philanthropist, not the guy who started Microsoft or was the avatar for everyone's annoyance with Windows 95. This bioweapon attack on humanity cost us $20T, millions of lives, and our freedom. Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. #BillGates is buying out all of the farmlands and trying to figure out ways to block out the SUN for THREE DAYS!!! One example is this April 8Facebook post, which reads:"Let me get this straight. The article was shared on Facebook and was flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. A snapshot of searches between March 1 and 2 included breakout results largely based around: "Bill Gates trying to block sun. The World Economic Forum has its own police force. The Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (SCoPEx), launched by Harvard University scientists, aims to examine this solution by spraying non-toxic calcium carbonate (CaCO3) dust into the atmosphere a sun-reflecting aerosol that may offset the effects of global warming. Geoengineering and Bill Gates blocking out the sun. Widespread use of technology that dims natural sunlight to help fight climate change should only be used as a last resort, scientists have warned. One example is cloud seeding, where airplanes flush clouds with particulate matter in order to coalesce into rain. Bill Gates-funded Study to Dim Sunlight May Be Needed - Newsweek In terms of solar radiation management, that is not the case. Bill Gates is working on a way to block the sun's rays so we prevent global warming. Franklin Jacome/Agencia Press South/Getty Images, lists Bill Gates as one of its philanthropic donors, Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. Bill Gates has provided undisclosed amounts of funding to academic research into solar geoengineering research, which in turn helps to fund the SCoPEx project. 727-821-9494. stated on February 21, 2022 in an article: "Bill Gates hatches 'horribly stupid' plan to block out the sun", stated on February 20, 2023 in an Instagram post. Frank Keutsch, the projects principal investigator, does not know what the results might bring. On the other hand we are expected to go to solar powered energy. Slippery-slope arguments aside, this is a far cry from an attempt to geoengineer the world. Pinatubo eruption in 1991 , which temporarily cooled our planet by 0.5 degrees C. The full text of the Solar Geoengineering Non-Use Agreement can be read here. ". The ultimate point of SCoPEx project is not to dim anything scientists do not need to test whether aerosols block sunlight, that fact is already well established but instead to release a small amount of the calcium carbonate (no more than 4.4 pounds) into the wake of a propeller-driven weather balloon flying 12 miles above the arctic, creating a diffuse cloud that is roughly 1000 yards long and 100 yards in diameter. This one is easy to take on-the-go with you if you're camping, and easy to store if you're using it at home in case of a power outage. The letter goes on to call for five measures to be adhered to by the international community: no public funding for solar geoengineering; no outdoor experiments; no patents for solar geoengineering tech; no deployment of such tech; and no support for solar geoengineering from international institutions. After Reuters reported on the effort in December 2020, the conservative Western Journal published a piecetitled "Bill Gates' Savior Complex Spirals Out of Control, Funds Sun-Dimming Plan To Save the Human Race," in which the writer portrays the project as a threat to humanity. A doctor at the Mayo Clinic is misdiagnosing pregnancies of Trump supporters so they have abortions. Scientists have devised multiple ways to block sunlight from reaching Earths atmosphere or surface. The chemical is non-toxic and the amount released will also be small. But there is no suggestion he is in favor of blocking all sunlight from reaching Earth. I'm not sure that's wise, given the importance of the problem, but there's now the geoengineering discussion about: Should that be in the back pocket in case things happen faster, or this innovation [in sustainable energy] goes a lot slower than we expect? International cooperation will be required to assess the risks, winners, and losers of any such experiment, and how best to proceed with all in mind. But there's another nightmare: It's that after bringing emissions to zero, we realize in hindsight that early use of geoengineering could have saved millions of lives lost in heat waves and helped preserve some of the natural world. Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. 01 Mar 2023 04:14:30 The experiment would measure the risks and effectiveness of the technology. This is the purpose of the experiment: once a safe, experimental amount of CaCO3 is released, the balloon will fly through it, sampling atmospheric reactions and recording resulting dynamics. The claim first surfaced in 2021 and has been previously debunked. His grant-making research fund, the Fund for Innovative Climate and Energy Research, partially finances the project. But theres another nightmare: Its that after bringing emissions to zero, we realize in hindsight that early use of geoengineering could have saved millions of lives lost in heat waves and helped preserve some of the natural world," Keith wrote in an op-ed published in the Boston Globe. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Elsewhere, the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative (C2G) aims to get the United Nations to discuss solar geoengineering at the UN General Assembly in 2023though C2G emphasizes that its stance is strictly impartial, and that the initiative simply seeks effective governance of the technologies. Bill Gates hatches 'horribly stupid' plan to block out the Sun - just Is Russias Only Aircraft Carrier Cursed? Fact check: Bill Gates is not trying to 'block the sun's rays' - USA TODAY Improved understanding of these processes will help answer applied questions such as, is it possible to find aerosols that can reduce or eliminate ozone loss, without increasing other physical risks? Harvard researchers proposed a small-scale experiment that would spray aerosols into the atmosphere to reflect some sunlight back into space, a technology aimed at minimizing global warming. But this claim, like other reports, misrepresents the nature of the project. Tosca Austen on Twitter: "RT @ToscaAusten: Bill Gates, farmer Bill Gates, Harvard, To Begin Blocking Sun In Spring Of 2019. If the world cannot slow emissions or the effects of climate change are more extreme or occur sooner than expected, there may be demands to pursue additional climate-intervention technologies about which scientists need a better understanding, National Academy of Sciences President Ralph J. Cicerone said in a news release for that report.Although riskier ideas to lessen the amount of energy absorbed from the sun should not be considered for deployment, they should be studied so that we can provide answers if someday these ideas begin to be considered in attempts to avert catastrophe.". Those responsible must be held to account or it will happen again and again until world government. I cover energy, security, Europe, Russia/Eurasia & the Middle East, The Sun setting into a pall of forest fire smoke, over Alberta from fires in BC and elsewhere, on August 17, 2018 This shows the dimming and reddening of the Sun as it set, with it disappearing from view long before it reached the horizon This was from home in southern Alberta, and is a Lighten blend mode stack of 20 images taken at 10 minute intervals, and shot on Auto Exposure with the Canon 6D MkII and 35mm lens The frames are part of a larger 200-frame timelapse processed with LRTimelapse. The claim first surfaced in 2021 and has been previously debunked by multiple fact checkers. A small amount of the substance, between 100g to 2kg, will be released to create an air mass roughly one kilometer long and one hundred meters in diameter. New Findings Warn Earth Could Break Key Warming Barrier In 2033, Should Climate Scientists Stop Doing Research? Make a DIY Cigar Box Florescent Rock Display. Thunberg: Not too late to act in Climate fight, Climate Activist Greta Thunberg appeared virtually before a House subcommittee Thursday to call on U.S. officials to do more, saying it's "not too late" to make real changes in the fight against climate change. Gates is one of SCoPEx's funders, but he is not participating in the project's research. With Bill Gates attempt to block out the sun, I dont believe Texas winter storm was a fluke . The claim first surfaced in 2021 and has been previously debunked. Additionally, the project is not working to block or dim the sun. Update 01/22/2022 GMT1240: This post has been updated to clarify the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiatives stance on solar geoengineering technologies, as noted by C2G executive director Janos Pasztor. Aerosols are the gaseous clouds formed by particles of many common materials. "One example is cloud seeding, where airplanes flush clouds with particulate matter in order to coalesce into rain.". Geo-Solar Engineering to Save the Planet By Nancy Thorner Reported by Frank Bergman on February 18, 2023: George Soros, worth 10 billion as of 2023, is pushing a plan to block the sun to fight climate change as a way to cool Earth's global temperature.. Soros outlined his plan during his address at the Munich Security Conference on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2023. Lastly, they ask, who would get to decide how solar geoengineering is usedand how would such a decision be fair? Three doctors from the same hospital die suddenly in the same week, after the hospital mandated a fourth COVID-19 vaccine for employees. In June 2021, some 30 groups of indigenous peoples from around the world called on Harvard University to abandon the Gates-backed plans to test its solar geoengineering tech with the help of the Swedish Space Corporation. The stated goal of SCoPEx, as described on the project website, is the collection of data regarding the microphysics of aerosols in the upper atmosphere so that computer models analyzing geoengineering can be as accurate as possible: This experiment will help us learn more about the efficacy and risks of solar geoengineering. One example is cloud. This material may not be reproduced without permission. At its core, SCoPEx seeks to better understand the efficacy and risks of solar geoengineering. The moon partially covers the sun in a cloudy sky during a solar eclipse on 2 July 2018 in Quito, Ecuador. stated on March 3, 2023 in a Conservative Political Action Conference speech: stated on February 19, 2023 in a Facebook post: stated on February 24, 2023 in an Instagram post: stated on March 2, 2023 in a speech at CPAC: stated on February 25, 2023 in a Facebook post: stated on February 22, 2023 in a Facebook post: stated on February 26, 2023 in an Instagram post: stated on February 27, 2023 in a Facebook post: All Rights Reserved Poynter Institute 2020, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. May 2021: Bill Gates, Harvard University back solar geoengineering to fight global warming. The world's richest man has provided at least $4.5 million of his own money over 3 years for the study of methods that could alter the stratosphere to reflect solar energy, techniques to filter carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere, and brighten . Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has funded a project to study such a technology. The UN document correctly indicates that volcanic eruptions sometimes fill the skies with ash or sulfur, dim the sun for years, and lead to measurable global cooling episodes. . You'll get everything you need in one, includingan100W solar panel, 30A PWM negative ground charge controller, MC4 connectors, a8Ft 10 AWG tray cable, and mounting Z brackets for an RV or boat. Caroline Delbert is a writer, avid reader, and contributing editor at Pop Mech. Now, that's just an insurance policy; you hope you don't need to do that. Impacts will vary across regions, and there are uncertainties about the effects on weather patterns, agriculture, and the provision of basic needs of food and water.. The speculative possibility of future solar geoengineering risks becoming a powerful argument for industry lobbyists, climate denialists, and some governments to delay decarbonization policies, the authors write. This is geoengineerings addiction problem, often called its moral hazard. There is a line of research on what's called geoengineering, which are various techniques that would delay the heating to buy us 20 or 30 years to get our act together. The SCoPEx experiment sought to release just a small amount of aerosol material into the sky in a specific location, but now, Harvard says even this must be considered in more detail and with ethical implications in mind. Instruments carried by the balloon monitorthat region for changes inaerosol density, atmospheric chemistryand light scattering. Recently, social media users are claiming Gates is working to block the sun's rays to combat global warming. 3 min read. The experiment would measure the risks and effectiveness of the technology. END TIMES NEWS UPDATE: Bill Gates wants to block the sun, White One way of doing that is by pulling carbon dioxide. Doing serious investigation of what its risks are and how well it could work provides the next generation with better information to make a more informed decision. Conspiracy spillovers and geoengineering - sciencedirect.com We do not approve legitimising development towards solar geoengineering technology, nor for it to be conducted in or above our lands, territories and skies, nor in any ecosystems anywhere, the signatories stated in a letter drafted by the Saami Council, which represents indigenous Saami people across Scandinavia and in Russia. This is why, SCoPEx says, most research has focused on an aerosol chemical already found in the stratosphere: sulfuric acid, which is a pollutant. There is documentation of bull sharks in the Great Lakes. In a 2010 Ted Talk, Gates argued that if society ends up in a position where global warming is bad enough that geoengineering needs to be taken seriously, it should already know and understand the process and its potential consequences. Many anti-Gates stories and memes suggest Gates philanthropic efforts' stem from things he "wants" to happen. Now, some social media users are claiming that billionaire Bill Gates is planning to spray dust into the atmosphere to "block the sun" as a way to combat global warming. In fact, it would be less material than spews from airplanes, rockets or routine balloon launches. And thats what this news really is: keeping options open and exploring the ramifications of a radical technology. February . Almost any everyday substance can be aerosolized in the right conditionsthe term is simply any airborne fine particulate that can float in clouds like a gas. British scientists have cited stratospheric aerosols from volcanic eruptions in Alaska and Mexico as the potential cause of drought in Africas Sahel region. With assistance from Hayley Arlin and James Grant. St. Petersburg, FL Unlike sulfates, which can lead to ozone loss, calcium carbonate is not particularly reactive. With everyone from investors to indigenous groups involved in the process, SCoPEx will never get off the ground without a lot of diplomacy. Bill Gates, Harvard, To Begin Blocking Sun In Spring Of 2019 - PrepForThat Aim: dim the Sun. Environmentalists similarly fear that a dramatic shift in mitigation strategy will be treated as a green light to continue emitting greenhouse gases with little to no changes in current consumption and production patterns. SCoPEx is partly funded through FICER and partly funded by Harvard's Solar Geoengineering Research Program, which itself is funded by a number of foundations and other private donors, including Gates. The project is supported in part by philanthropist Bill Gates through SEAS's Solar Geoengineering Research Program. The researchers behind the forthcoming Harvard project, the Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (SCoPEx), say we must study solar geoengineering in case we need to take a drastic action against climate change. billionaire founder Bill Gates is financially backing the development of sun-dimming technology that would potentially reflect sunlight out of Earths atmosphere, triggering a global cooling effect. 60 scientists write in an open letter that solar geoengineering is worth investigating as a way to keep the Earth from experiencing the most devastating effects of climate change. In 2007, Gates created a grant-making research fund known as the Fund for Innovative Climate and Energy Research (FICER). Gates and other private donors are backing Harvard Universitys Solar Geoengineering Research Program, which will soon launch a new study researching the efficacy of blocking sunlight from reaching Earths surface. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. Geoengineering techniques such as solar radiation management (SRM) could be part of a future technology portfolio to limit global temperature change. The SCoPEx team is aiming to collect data to enhance computer models and has said it plans to release a nontoxic chemical, but not to scatter sunlight back into space. The incremental nature of SCoPEx cannot be understated. The Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (SCoPEx) will spray a special calcium dust into the sky in order to reflect sunlight back into space. The most the experiment would seek to do is release two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of non-toxic dust from a weather balloon 12 miles high in the sky. First, they point to the unknown risks: deploying solar geoengineering tech could backfire, potentially catastrophically. "We are not, for example, testing whether it's possible to scatter sunlight back to space, because there is no meaningful scientific uncertainty about that question.". Know what makes your body hoard aluminum? Now, concerned that science fiction could end up becoming science fact in all the wrong ways, an international coalition of researchers and campaigners has called for an end to solar geoengineering plans. Soros Has a Plan to Block the Sun to Save Human Civilization It's perhaps equally crazy to keep ignoring it. The Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (SCoPEx) aimed to see how a tiny amount of aerosol in a trial would influence the immediate surroundings. These claims have. Computer modeling and laboratory work tell us some very useful things about solar geoengineering, but as with all other aspects of environmental science, computer models ultimately rest on observations of the real environment. You may need heart surgery or something. But in my view we have a duty to provide them with that information, so they can make those decisions in the face of really horrific climate risks.". Due to the controversial subject matter (more on that below) and the fact that it is privately funded, SCoPEx is overseen by an outside panel of advisers run by Harvard. The falsehood centers on a small-scale experiment that Harvard researchers proposed called SCoPEx, short for Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment that would spray aerosols into the atmosphere to reflect some sunlight back into space, a technology aimed at minimizing global warming. Advertisement - story continues below Now, apparently, he wants to save us from the sun. Yet the debate over solar geoengineering is likely to persist, as it enjoys the backing of wealthy individuals such as Gates, and the support of key scientific institutions, including the powerful U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which is urging the U.S. government to set up a federal research program to advance the technologies to the tune of up to $200 million. In the case of Keutsch's experiment, the chemical will be calcium carbonate, which is essentially a chalk dust. Gates only connection to the research is through his donation to Harvards Solar Geoengineering Research Program, which is providing part of the funding for the project. ", Ultimately, Keith said that more study was needed, writing: "It would be crazy to start deploying solar geoengineering today.