Just as quickly as it was announced, a controversial solar geoengineering . Neither is it desirable, ethical, or politically governable.. Gates argument, as described during a 2010 TED Talk, is that humanity should not be in a position, if global warming gets bad enough that geoengineering needs to be taken seriously, where we do not have the research to fully understand the mechanics of that solution: If you get into that situation, it's like if you've been overeating, and you're about to have a heart attack. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. "Bill Gates is attempting to block the sun in order to keep the Earth more cool." Days later, on Monday night, Tucker Carlson dog-whistled to conspiracy theorists, telling Fox News viewers that "your body" is "Bill Gates' body now," because the Microsoft founder is helping to fund global COVID-19 vaccination efforts. 1800 I Street NW Pinatubo eruption in 1991 , which temporarily cooled our planet by 0.5 degrees C. Lastly, they ask, who would get to decide how solar geoengineering is usedand how would such a decision be fair? Klicken Sie auf Alle ablehnen, wenn Sie nicht mchten, dass wir und unsere Partner Cookies und personenbezogene Daten fr diese zustzlichen Zwecke verwenden. One example is cloud seeding, where airplanes flush clouds with particulate matter in order to coalesce into rain. In 2015, the National Academies of Sciences, for example, released a two-part report on climate interventions like solar radiation management. An effort to dim the sun to stop global warming has been scrapped by the Swedish Space Agency, who announced that the program, funded by Bill Gates, has 'divided the scientific community' and will therefore not be carried out. On the other hand we are expected to go to solar powered energy. Those responsible must be held to account or it will happen again and again until world government. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. Gates, who dropped out of Harvard in 1975 to co-found Microsoft, has provided funding to the university for climate research since 2007. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. .css-v1xtj3{display:block;font-family:FreightSansW01,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-weight:100;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-v1xtj3:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.1387rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-v1xtj3{line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.18581rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.5rem;margin-top:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.23488rem;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0.9375rem;}}These Are the 13 Biggest Planes in the World, Why Russian Hybrid Warfare Failed in Ukraine, Three Nifty Hacks to Make Drilling Easier, Whats New With F1 Tires for the 2023 Season, Memes Could Save Us From Superintelligent Machines, The Secret War to Take out Iran's F-14 Fighters, Meet the E-7 Wedgetail, the Air Forces New Plane, Report: Pilot Error Ruined a $112 Million F-35 Jet. He is among the donors to a program thats funding a small-scale experiment proposed by Harvard researchers that would spray aerosols into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight back into space. Why Trust Us? Further research on this and similar methods could lead to reductions in risks and improved efficacy of solar geoengineering methods, write the authors of the paper. USA TODAY has reached out to the poster for comment. One example is cloud. 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? Daily Star, "Bill Gates hatches 'horribly stupid' plan to block out the Sun - just like Mr Burns," Feb. 21, 2022, David Keiths Research Group, "Fund for Innovative Climate and Energy Research," accessed Feb. 25, 2022, Harvards Solar Geoengineering Research Program, "Funding," accessed Feb. 25, 2022, Keutsch Group at Harvard, "SCoPEx," accessed Feb. 25, 2022, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, "New Report Says U.S. Should Cautiously Pursue Solar Geoengineering Research to Better Understand Options for Responding to Climate Change Risks," March 25, 2021, Natural Resources Defense Council, "The Dept. The experiment is funded in part through Harvards Solar Geoengineering Research Program, and Bill Gates is among the donors to that program. US geoengineers to spray sun-reflecting chemicals from balloon SCoPEx planned a small pilot experiment, with the rationale that we need to scrutinize and consider the idea of solar geoengineering today so we dont end up relying on a totally untested technology in the future. May 2021: Bill Gates, Harvard University back solar geoengineering to fight global warming. Solar Geoengineering: Why Bill Gates Wants It, But These - Forbes Bill Gates hatches 'horribly stupid' plan to block out the Sun - just The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia resulted in the year without a summer, while the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines lowered global average temperatures by 0.5 C. Deliberate introduction of similar particles could potentially counter decades of greenhouse gas emissions. As noted by Nature in 2018, the concept in a broad sense is designed to spray particles into the stratosphere that may cool the planet by reflecting some of the Sun's rays. If given the go-ahead, the experiment could take place in June, 2021, from the Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden. Keith, who manages a multimillion dollar geoengineering research fund provided by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, previously commissioned a study by a US aerospace company that made the case for the . This process involves seeding the stratosphere with aerosols to reflect sunlight away. Make a DIY Cigar Box Florescent Rock Display. First, they point to the unknown risks: deploying solar geoengineering tech could backfire, potentially catastrophically. Again, these temperature decreases bring with them serious risks. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. BBC News edited out boos in footage of Boris Johnson arriving at the Queens Platinum Jubilee thanksgiving service. Microsoft founder Bill Gates (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) The Harvard researchers have claimed that, if it were launched this year, it would cost about $3.5 billion (2.74 billion), plus. Snopes said 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. The experiment would measure the risks and effectiveness of the technology. False: The claim is demonstrably false. 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.". "People are right to fear over-reliance on technofixes. RT @ToscaAusten: Bill Gates, farmer, philanthropist, climate cultist extraordinaire, and the newly invested multi-million dollar shareholder of Heineken, is dabbling in solar geoengineeringthe scientific process of bouncing the sun's rays back into space. The post referstoHarvard'sStratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment, orSCoPEx, which is financially backed by Gates. The article shared in the Facebook post also falsely claims that the experiment will "kick off in June." 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. For one thing, the methods could have unintended consequences on global weather patterns. Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has been supporting a wide array of research on geoengineering since 2007, ScienceInsider has learned. It's made ofPET, EVA and monocrystalline silicon, and it'santi-reflective andhigh transparency. More than 45 heavyweight academics, law professors and writers have signed the letter, including award-winning author Amitav Ghosh, Sheila Jasanoff, Pforzheimer professor of science and technology studies at Harvard Kennedy School, and Raymond T. Pierrehumbert, Halley professor of physics at the University of Oxford. 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. With everyone from investors to indigenous groups involved in the process, SCoPEx will never get off the ground without a lot of diplomacy. This week, the influential National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) also released a new report urging the U.S. government to spend at least $100 million to study solar geoengineering, a controversial technology. Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. Bill Gates, who recently suggested the world should eat 100 percent synthetic beef and said bitcoin is bad for the planet, has set his sights on a new foe: the sun. These models, the SCoPEx website explains, "are the primary tool for estimating the risks and benefits of solar geoengineering." .css-ow13hy{background-color:#1c6a65;color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:FreightSansW01,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;letter-spacing:0.03rem;padding:0.8125rem 1.25rem 0.9rem;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;text-decoration-color:#1c6a65;text-decoration-thickness:0.125rem;text-transform:uppercase;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;width:auto;}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-ow13hy{font-size:0.875rem;line-height:1;padding:0.7rem 1rem 0.75rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-ow13hy{padding:0.7rem 1rem 0.75rem;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-ow13hy{font-size:0.875rem;line-height:1;padding:0.8125rem 1.25rem 0.9rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-ow13hy{font-size:0.875rem;line-height:1;}}.css-ow13hy:focus-visible{outline-color:body-cta-btn-link-focus;}.css-ow13hy:hover{color:#fff;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;background-color:#000000;border:none;} Make your inbox more awesome. How Bill Gates Became a Favorite Target for Conspiracy Theorists - Insider Solar geoengineering is a subfield of geoengineering, which refers to efforts to alter the environment to limit the effects of climate change. SCoPEx is one of those projects. 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. Bill Gates Sun Blocking Study Postponed | Solar Geoengineering It is, however, a mischaracterization to suggest that SCoPEx seeks to test geoengineering per se, that a geoengineered world is a desired outcome for the people involved in the project, or that SCoPEx itself could disturb the global climate system. Gates and other private donors are supporting Harvard Universitys Solar Geoengineering Research Program, which had planned to launch a new study based in Sweden in June researching the efficacy of blocking sunlight from reaching Earths surface. A new coalition of scholars wants the technology effectively banned. Just as quickly as it was announced, a controversial solar geoengineering experiment backed by Bill Gates has been postponed until at least 2022. 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. In terms of solar radiation management, that is not the case. 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. 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. Outdoor experiments can provide in situ perspective that is impossible to obtain in the laboratory and SCoPEx can help us validate important model parameters that have yet to been tested against measurements. SCoPEx will take a small step in its early research this June near the town of Kiruna, Sweden, where the Swedish Space Corporation has agreed to help launch a balloon carrying scientific equipment 12 miles (20 km) high. If successful, this could be a step towards a second experimental stage that would release a small amount of CaCO3 dust into the atmosphere. Meanwhile, for a new prepublication report, the NASEM convened a committee of 16 international science luminaries to develop solar geoengineering research. 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. Bill Gates is a popular target of conspiracy theories characterizing his charitable giving as evidence of a nefarious world domination scheme. SATANSpiderman886note This is our End Times News Update for the week of Friday February 3rd, 2023. The launch will not release any stratospheric aerosols. Some have alleged Gates wants to block the sun. Digital IDs were given to residents in East Palestine, Ohio, to track long term health problems like difficulty breathing before the Feb. 3 train derailment. The Western Journals reporting, and other claims in its vein, reference or combine a December 2020 Reuters story with elements of a scientifically confused profile of the SCoPEx project published in 2019 by the British tabloid Daily Mail. In a report made by that body, Gates' involvement is noted, but the proportion of the project funded by Gates is not publicly disclosed. Gates did not create such a plan. ", Explaining the balancing act, he continued: "People are right to fear over-reliance on technofixes. 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. The Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (SCoPEx) will spray a special calcium dust into the sky in order to reflect sunlight back into space. There is documentation of bull sharks in the Great Lakes. 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. Bill Gates backing plan to stop climate change by blocking out the sun "Instead, it will observe how particles interact with one another, with the background stratospheric air, and with solar and infrared radiation. Instruments carried by the balloon monitorthat region for changes inaerosol density, atmospheric chemistryand light scattering. Cocaine Bear Isnt the Only Animal Getting High. We take a look at 7 End Times Headlines from all across the world. In a future test, the team is planning to use a high-altitude balloon to lift a package holding calcium carbonate approximately 20 km into the atmosphere. Bill Gates, Harvard, To Begin Blocking Sun In Spring Of 2019 - PrepForThat February . Keutsch's counter, in essence, is that we don't yet know enough about the mechanics of the solution to adequately understand its risks. For these reasons, and because SCoPEx does not from a factual standpoint actually dim or block the sun, we rate the claim that Gates is funding research that "would help block out the sun" as "Mostly False.". Geoengineering is the term for technologies that try to alter Earths physical qualities on the largest scale possible. "We Must Block Sunlight To Save The Planet," Intones the United Nations Keith and fellow SCoPEx scientists published a paper in 2017 suggesting that the dust may actually replenish the ozone layer by reacting with ozone-destroying molecules. As previously detailed by Snopes, a fact-checking organization, the assertion is largely based on sensationalist reports about the scope and ability of the SCoPEx project. Essay:Geo-Solar Engineering to Save the Planet - Conservapedia The process is not without controversy, as some experts have voiced fears that blasting chemicals into our immediate orbit tampers with the natural order, making weather less predictable or threatening populations' food supplies by causing drought. Gates' financial involvement with SCoPEx has been documented since November 2018. Freezing temperatures in 1815 led to failed crops in near-famine conditions. This will likely postpone the platform launch until 2022, the committee said. These are gathered under the umbrella term solar geoengineering. The most common and studied method is to reflect sunlight away from Earth using aerosol particles in the atmosphere, but until now, this has been seen as more of a fringe idea. In theory, solar geoengineering is based on the idea that experts can reduce the impact of global warming by reflecting sunlight back into space using chemicals. Bill Gates' "Block The Sun" Scopex Balloon Launch Experiment In Sweden These are ideal for residential or commercial rooftops, but they're compatible with a ground-mount as well. SATAN 202333Rhoda Wilson 9 It also has made him a. Briefly, it is true that Gates has funded research that includes theoretical studies into the feasibility of solar radiation management. Bill Gates Wants to Dim the Sun | What Is Solar Geoengineering? END TIMES NEWS UPDATE: Bill Gates wants to block the sun, White The full text of the Solar Geoengineering Non-Use Agreement can be read here. The perfect aerosol would not immediately tamper with stratospheric chemistry at all: The only thing it would do is scatter maximum sunlight and hence cool down the planet.. Scientists' concerns with solar radiation management generally fall into two categories: unknowns about potential unintended consequences in the global climate system, and the possibility such a solution, by providing a technological fix, would encourage further fossil fuel use in lieu of sustainable changes. No one is suggesting we spray the clouds with calcium carbonate tomorrow, or even 10 years from now. Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. The SCoPEx project is partially funded by the Harvard University Solar Geoengineering Research Program (SGRP), which lists Bill Gates as one of its philanthropic donors. 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. Is Bill Gates Funding Efforts To Block The Sun? | Snopes.com Is Bill Gates Funding Efforts To Block The Sun? Bill Gates' Savior Complex Spirals Out of Control, Funds Sun-Dimming Plan To Save the Human Race, says concerns like these are not supported by science, Fact check: Bill Gates is not planning to microchip the world through a COVID-19 vaccine, Planned Harvard balloon test in Sweden stirs solar geoengineering unease, Bill Gates' Savior Complex Spirals Out of Control, Funds Sun-Dimming Plan To Save the Human Race, Could dimming the sun save the Earth? In the future, a small amount of the dustbetween 100g to 2kgwould be released to study atmospheric changes. Jan. 5, 2021, USA Today, "Fact check: Bill Gates is not trying to 'block the sun's rays' in the name of climate change," April 23, 2021, Wilson Center, "Solar Radiation Management," Sept. 20, 2020. "Bill Gates hatches 'horribly stupid' plan to block out the sun," says the headline on a Feb. 21 article on the Daily Star website. Prominent campaigner Greta Thunberg came out in support of the indigenous peoples and against solar geoengineering. Gates did not personally hatch a plan, nor is he or anyone scheming to block out the sun. According to Snopes,. The Daily Mail, a British tabloid newspaper, reported in August 2019 that Gates "wants to spray millions of tonnes of dust into the stratosphere to stop global warming.". Never far away from a plot to destroy, control and profiteer, since early last year Bill Gates and other private donors have funded Harvard University's Solar Geoengineering Research Program, SCoPEx, to study effective ways to block sunlight from reaching Earth's surface. Conspiracy spillovers and geoengineering - sciencedirect.com The risks of solar geoengineering are poorly understood and can never be fully known, the scholars say. Soros Has a Plan to Block the Sun to Save Human Civilization Claim that Bill Gates is scheming to block the sun is wrong But the SCoPEx website says the current project's scope remains limited. That's why Bill Gates must block out the sun : r/conspiracy Calcium carbonate is a nontoxic chemical commonly found in nature. Harvard scientists intend to block out the sun's rays from earth as a way to help stave off climate change. Large scale use of the processknown as solar geoengineeringis a "terrifying" concept that is only likely to be used in the future if significant regions of the planet become too warm to be habitable, Harvard University Professor Frank Keutsch told The Times. Microsofts The Gates-supported study seeks to do exploratory, small-scale experiments in the atmosphere: Calcium carbonate is a plentiful and harmless mineral thats also the active ingredient in Tums. Never far away from a plot to destroy, control and profiteer, since early last year Bill Gates and other private donors have funded Harvard University's Solar Geoengineering Research Program, SCoPEx, to study effective ways to block sunlight from reaching Earth's surface. Proponents of so-called solar geoengineering, such as tech billionaire Bill Gates, say techniques intended to block a portion of the solar radiation reaching the planet ought to be. Know what makes your body hoard aluminum? (Photo by: VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images), Santa Clara, California 27 September, 2014 Global, March Against Chemtrails and Geoengineering, YOGYAKARTA, INDONESIA - JANUARY 07: Lava runs down, from Mount Merapi as the volcanic activity increases on January 7, 2021 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The arguments underlying these concerns are outside the scope of this article, but a central feature of misinformed reporting on SCoPEx involves conflating scientists' or activists' views on solar radiation management in general with fears about SCoPEx specifically. The science has spoken. Primary source evidence proves the claim to be false. So how does that work???". Sweden Scraps Bill Gates' Geoengineering Plot To Block The Sun Just as quickly as it was announced, a controversial solar geoengineering experiment backed by Bill Gates has . radiation, lowering the Earth's temperature by 0.6 degrees Celsius (33.08 degrees Fahrenheit.) She's also an enthusiast of just about everything. Bill Gates' wealth has allowed him to donate and invest in projects across the globe. David Keith has proposed the creation of a risk pool to compensate smaller nations for collateral damage caused by such tests, but such a payout might be little comfort to those displaced by unlivable conditions. Widespread research into the efficacy of solar geoengineering has been stalled for years due to controversy. 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. Bill Gates's PR companies are again reporting on a UN study that is Widespread use of technology that dims natural sunlight to help fight climate change should only be used as a last resort, scientists have warned. The project at issue in several sensationalized news stories, SCoPEx, is an experiment designed to collect data for the purpose of refining computer models that simulate solar radiation management, not to implement an actual test of the practice. Is Russias Only Aircraft Carrier Cursed? One example is this April 8Facebook post, which reads:"Let me get this straight. It can fully charge a 50Ah Battery from 50% in 3 hours. An article headline says, "Bill Gates hatches 'horribly stupid' plan to block out the sun.". 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. Bill Gates' Controversial Plan to Block Sunlight From Reaching Earth Bill Gates has been falsely accused of many villainous plans, from depopulating the Earth to pushing microchips as part of all medical procedures. For his part, SCoPEx researcher and Harvard Professor Frank Keutsch has argued that concerns like these are unsupported by scientific research and motivated more by fears about geoengineering being a problematic, pro-fossil fuel solution to global warming. Bill Gates' "Block The Sun" Scopex Balloon Launch Experiment In Sweden Hits A Snag As Environmental Groups Express Criticism . China threatens to shoot Nancy Pelosis plane down if she visits Taiwan., Know what they always find in Alzheimers patients? Tosca Austen on Twitter: "RT @ToscaAusten: Bill Gates, farmer SCoPEx,and geoengineering in general,aresomewhat controversial. Despite the concern, Keutsch is leading a project to study such technology, which could start later this year.