Could plan to ‘reverse climate change’ by spraying aerosols into the atmosphere actually work?

A controversial plan to cool the planet by spraying aerosols into the stratosphere is not as dangerous as it has been portrayed, scientists have argued.

The idea of ‘solar geoengineering’ or solar radiation management (SRM) is controversial, mimicking the world-chilling effects of huge volcanic eruptions.

Some scientists have suggested that such technology could be used a ‘stop gap’ to reduce temperatures while measures to limit CO2 emissions are put in place, the Wall Street Journal reported.

But a study earlier this year suggested that when the SRM was withdrawn, it could lead to rapid global warming in a phenomenon known as ‘termination shock’.

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But a new article published in EarthSky has suggested that the technology might not be as dangerous as has been suggested.

Study co-author Peter Irvine of Harvard said, ‘Most studies so far have focused on the extremes, like in a large-scale deployment that’s ended instantly and permanently.

‘If solar geoengineering were deployed at small scales, say cooling only a few tenths of a degree Celsius, then if it were ended there wouldn’t be substantial warming.

‘If it were phased out over the course of decades, there would not be a rapid warming, so that would also not constitute a termination shock.

‘And if it were turned off for some reason and then turned back on again, the termination shock could be avoided.’