Website Reveals Millionaire's Scheme to Obstruct Solar Radiation
What was once a absurd notion from films like Highlander II and The Simpsons might become a reality someday. Billionaires with unconventional ideas in Silicon Valley are pondering the idea of blocking out the sun. The reason behind this? We're rapidly running out of time to halt the planet's heating and a severe issue may soon necessitate extreme measures.
This is a risky move, but it's popular in the tech-driven world of Silicon Valley. An article in Bloomberg delves into the technology, financial backers, and potential consequences.
The planet is warming up, and the devastating effects of this heat wave are no longer just theory; they're happening now. Worse still, climate scientists have warned that we might have passed the point of no return. Any action from global governments to rectify this situation would need to be swift and drastic. Unfortunately, this seems unlikely.
Faced with this predicament, wealthy individuals are contemplating taking matters into their own hands—and soon. As Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, put it in a post on X, "I wish the world were studying solar geoengineering more. Clearly, I have misgivings about it, but it’s so relatively cheap that I think some country is just going to do it if/when the climate crisis gets bad enough as a temporary patch. It would be great to learn more before then."
Bill Gates, Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, venture capitalists Matt Cohler and Chris Sacca, and Bay area billionaire Rachel Pritzker are among those investing in companies aiming to block out the sun. According to a spokesperson, former Meta CTO Mike Schroepfer is funding the non-profit Outlier Projects, which supports "research on sunlight reflection, alongside other climate research, all with the aim of understanding what options might help mitigate the worst effects of climate change."
So, how would this work? As Altman pointed out in his post, it's cheap and easy. A startup called Make Sunsets is already doing it. "Some might call it solar engineering; we call it an opportunity to reverse global warming," their website states.
Make Sunsets' solution is solar radiation management (SRM), which involves reflecting sunlight to cool the planet. One method for this is known as stratospheric aerosol injection, which involves flying a plane around the planet, dumping sulfur dioxide into the air. In theory, the SO2 would form a cloud in the stratosphere, reflect sunlight away from the planet, and gradually cool the Earth.
According to their website, this method mimics the effects of a volcanic eruption. "Emissions from volcanic eruptions have been cooling the Earth for millions of years, like Mt. Pinatubo in 1991. We are simply mimicking Mother Nature," the site states.
However, there are numerous downsides to this method. According to the company's FAQ, the effect is uncertain, it might deplete the ozone layer, if it's ever stopped, the Earth might rapidly heat up, it could lead to misconceptions that climate change has been 'solved,' and it "could lead to geopolitical tensions and disagreements over its deployment, regulation, and potential side effects."
Right now, they're testing this with balloons. Interested individuals and companies can buy "cooling credits" from Make Sunsets for $10 a pop or a subscription rate of $30 a month for 30. "One Cooling Credit offsets one ton of CO2 warming for a year. The average American generates 16 tons of CO2 per year," Make Sunsets states on its website. "By purchasing a Cooling Credit, your funds will be used to release at least 1 gram of our ‘clouds’ into the stratosphere on your behalf, offsetting the warming effect of 1 ton of carbon dioxide for 1 year."
According to Bloomberg, other cooling startups and NGOs view Make Sunsets as more of a novelty than a solution. "You need a regulatory function that works and you need lots of science. Right now, we don’t have either of those things," Kelly Wanser, the founder of SilverLining—a nonprofit tackling climate change—told Bloomberg.
As the planet continues to heat up, the absurdity of solutions will only increase. It's hard not to sympathize with the world's billionaires wanting to invest a portion of their vast fortunes to protect their interests. Governments around the world have made it clear that they aren't up to the challenge. As Altman said, it's possible that someone with a lot of money will be persuaded to take drastic action following a major climate event in the near future. Andrew Lockley, a UK-based independent researcher in geoengineering told Bloomberg: "To get started, it only takes one person to say, 'I have 100 million quid, I have a business jet, let's go.'"
There are no shortage of startups and NGOs ready to take their money for a radical and unproven solution.
Update October 29: An earlier version of this piece mistakenly stated that ex-Meta CTO Mike Schroepfer was backing a lucrative solar geoengineering enterprise as an investor. In fact, Schroepfer sponsors the non-profit organization Outlier Ventures. We apologize for the inaccuracy.
In the tech-driven world of Silicon Valley, radical solutions to combat climate change are gaining popularity. As Sam Altman from OpenAI suggested, solar geoengineering, specifically solar radiation management, could become a viable option if the climate crisis worsens. Make Sunsets, a startup, is already experimenting with this method by releasing sulfur dioxide to form a sun-reflecting cloud in the stratosphere.
