From my experience working in the health and safety industry, I have gathered and witnessed that it is not the favourite subject of many. However, I would also like to think this subject will interest you; especially because it borders on an existential risk to human civilisation. That’s right! No one on the face of the earth is exempt!

As our activities on earth which largely constitute the burning of fossil fuels continue to increase, the earth keeps getting hotter and is begging to be saved. According to a press release by the World Meteorological Organisation last month, 2023 was the warmest year on record; “2023 has shattered climate records, accompanied by extreme weather which has left a trail of devastation and despair,” the publication headlined.

Copernicus also in their press release of 2024 had this to say; “The global-average temperature from September 2023 to August 2024 have the highest numbers on record for any 12-month period at 0.760C above the 1991 – 2020 average and 1.640C above the 1850 – 1900 pre-industrial average.” Simply put, none of that is good news. They are worrisome and demand urgent attention.

Mitigating the fast-rising issues of climate change and global warming was the concern of David Keith, a leading researcher in geoengineering when he briefed Bill Gates about the idea of marine cloud brightening in 2006; one of the several ideas of solar radiation modification, solar geoengineering or climate intervention. According to an April 2024 New York Times publication titled “Warming is getting worse, so they just tested a way to deflect the sun”, this project has since 2009 received funding and has reached several remarkable innovative milestones. This idea constitutes spraying the perfect size of sea salt aerosols through a series of nozzles at a very high pressure. As expected, even though there’s been a rise in financial commitments worldwide to this research coupled with positive scientific outcomes here and there, there is yet to be a stakeholder involved who can assure the world that the result of this project if eventually put to use will not have far-reaching negative side effects including but not limited to a potential change in ocean circulation patterns and temperature which might be a huge risk to aquatic life and altering of precipitation patterns which could have serious consequences for agriculture across the globe. By now, you shouldn’t still be unbothered, and you might see why just by going electric, you’re doing so much to save the planet.

Another billionaire, George Soros, in a Time publication in 2023 discussed his plans to brighten the clouds over the Arctic to reflect the sun’s energy away from the melting ice caps. Jeff Bezos and Dustin Moskovitz have also been mentioned to be well-invested in this solar geoengineering project using sulphur dioxide (SO2). In a Forbes publication by Ariel Cohen in December 2021, he talks about how there has been more concern about the use of SO2 than calcium carbonate (CaCO3) for this research stemming from the outcome of previously recorded events owing to the introduction of sulfuric ash into the atmosphere such as the 1815 volcanic eruptions of Mount Tambora in Indonesia which resulted in “a year without summer” or in when in 1991, the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines lowered global average temperatures by 0.50. Calcium carbonate was thought to be a better option because of its near-ideal optical properties that will allow it to absorb far less radiation than sulphate aerosols. According to Frank Keutsch, The Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (SCoPEx) project’s principal investigator, who like everyone else is uncertain of what will happen as per side effects, if and when this research finally gains use, “The perfect aerosol would not immediately tamper with stratospheric chemistry at all; the only thing it would do is scatter maximum sunlight hence, cool the planet.”

Apart from the concerning fears of the unknown side effects of solar geoengineering, a greater concern is the fear of attention shifted away from tackling the root of the problem which is the burning of fossil fuels and carbon emissions. Honestly, I have no idea how either option will be realised. Will all fuel-powered generators and cars one day be deemed unsafe under some new law? I doubt that… Will automobile companies agree to a deal to switch people’s fuel-powered cars for electric cars at no damming costs? I doubt that too… Is there another subsidy situation on the way on a global level? Amidst all the unanswered questions, one thing is certain; everyone has a part to play!

Shall we roll the dice then? Shall we try out solar engineering unprepared for damage control? Or shall we all just go full on electric?

Olaleye, a seasoned health and safety professional, can be reached via [email protected]