Doh! New study finds that geoengineering in one area has a negative impact everywhere else

 Nothing says unintended consequences like ill-conceived, leftist policy—but I repeat myself.

In the beginning of April of this year, the San Francisco Chronicle reported this:

Bay Area hosts first-in-nation experiment to slow global warming — by helping clouds deflect sunlight

In Alameda, scientists are embarking on a novel attempt to cool the Earth — by spraying salt into clouds.

The work, known as marine cloud brightening, is controversial and is just one method of geoengineering — which describes interventions meant to slow Earth’s warming. But proponents say the technology may be needed to mitigate climate change.

To brighten clouds, researchers spray microscopic sea salt into the air over the ocean to boost clouds’ reflectivity. This means less sunlight is absorbed, leading to a planetary cooling effect.

Barely a month later, the experiment was over, because of the high possibility of severe health concerns from the aerosol application of purported “salt water” into the clouds right over a water source and a large population of people; from an article at The New York Times:

Cloud Brightening Study in California Is Halted by Local Officials

The experiment, which began on April 2, marked the first time in the United States that researchers had tested such a device outdoors. But on May 4, the City of Alameda wrote on its Facebook page that it had instructed the researchers to stop, citing possible health concerns.

‘City staff are working with a team of biological and hazardous materials consultants to independently evaluate the health and environmental safety of this particular experiment,’ officials wrote. ‘The City is evaluating the chemical compounds in the spray to determine if they are a hazard either inhaled in aerosol form by humans and animals, or landing on the ground or in the bay.’

After “evaluating the chemical compounds” used, city officials decided earlier this month against allowing the experiment to continue, largely citing the researchers concerning lack of transparency—so forgive me if I don’t trust their research was simply innocuous salt water.

Yet, that’s not the end of the story. There’s an article out at The Guardian today, reporting on the findings of a new study that suggests that “climate engineering,” like the Alameda “cloud brightening” program, has some dire consequences for everywhere else:

Climate engineering off US coast could increase heatwaves in Europe, study finds

A geoengineering technique designed to reduce high temperatures in California could inadvertently intensify heatwaves in Europe, according to a study that models the unintended consequences of regional tinkering with a changing climate.

The paper shows that targeted interventions to lower temperature in one area for one season might bring temporary benefits to some populations, but this has to be set against potentially negative side-effects in other parts of the world and shifting degrees of effectiveness over time.

The authors of the study said the findings were ‘scary’ because the world has few or no regulations in place to prevent regional applications of the technique, marine cloud brightening, which involves spraying reflective aerosols (usually in the form of sea salt or sea spray) into stratocumulus clouds over the ocean to reflect more solar radiation back into space.

Well well well, leftists and their half-baked ideas doing more harm than good…again.

Now I’m just little old me, but perhaps we just leave the atmosphere alone, and stop spraying chemicals, compounds, and other toxic materials into the air? Too much to ask?

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/06/doh_new_study_finds_that_geoengineering_in_one_area_has_a_negative_impact_for_everywhere_else.html