(Read more about our partnership with Facebook.). 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. 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. One way of doing that is by pulling carbon dioxide. A doctor at the Mayo Clinic is misdiagnosing pregnancies of Trump supporters so they have abortions. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Bill Gates funded the study. Although . She's also an enthusiast of just about everything. "To date, nobody has been able to show that there is a law for the average American citizen working day in and day out to pay an income tax.". But there is no suggestion he. Claims that Bill Gates is going to 'block the sun' lack context 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. Gates is one of SCoPEx's funders, but he is not participating in the project's research. It will cost several million dollars and has been funded by private donors, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. One that has persisted in recent weeks involves an experiment by a team of scientists at Harvard University, known as the Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (SCoPEx), that is testing aerosols that might be relevant to solar geoengineering. The risks of solar geoengineering are poorly understood and can never be fully known, the scholars say. The experiment involves launching a high-altitude balloon about 12 miles into the atmosphere, according to its website. It sounds very much like the plot of one science fiction movie in particularnamely Bong Joon-hos 2013 film Snowpiercer, in which scientists release aerosols into the sky in a desperate bid to stop rampant global warming. Widespread use of technology that dims natural sunlight to help fight climate change should only be used as a last resort, scientists have warned. Bill Gates, Harvard, To Begin Blocking Sun In Spring Of 2019 - PrepForThat 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. It is not a test of solar geoengineering per se. 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. 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. 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. Mount Merapi, 2,968 metres high, is known as one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia, with an eruption occurring every two to five years. Bill Gates and Harvard want scientists to study solar geoengineering. In 2007, Gates created a grant-making research fund known as the Fund for Innovative Climate and Energy Research (FICER). Know what makes your body hoard aluminum? How Bill Gates Became a Favorite Target for Conspiracy Theorists - Insider In the future, a small amount of the dustbetween 100g to 2kgwould be released to study atmospheric changes. 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. According to the project's website: SCoPEx will make quantitative measurements of aspects of the aerosol microphysics and atmospheric chemistry that are currently highly uncertain in the simulations. Photo credit: Justin Sullivan - Getty Images. Bill Gates has been falsely accused of many villainous plans, from depopulating the Earth to pushing microchips as part of all medical procedures. Microsoft founder Bill Gates delivers a speech at the conference of Global Fund to Fight HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria on October 10, 2019, in France. This is why scientists are asking now for a major investment in solar geoengineering research. Washington, DC Billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is no stranger to conspiracy theories and speculation about the projects he funds. The Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (SCoPEx) aimed to see how a tiny amount of aerosol in a trial would influence the immediate surroundings. In a report made by that body, Gates' involvement is noted, but the proportion of the project funded by Gates is not publicly disclosed. Due to the controversial subject matter (more on that below) and the fact that it is privately funded, SCoPEx is overseen by an outside panel of advisers run by Harvard. .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;}}USAF's Reactor Creates Jet Fuel Out of Water, Air, Ring Lasers Can Allow Time Travel, Scientist Says, Mystery on Easter Island: More Moai Found in Lake, Ironton Found: Solving An 1894 Shipwreck Mystery, Scientists Discovered a Highly Reactive Superacid, 60 Scientists Are Trying to Block the Sun. But harmless only goes so farthe repercussions of solar geoengineering arent necessarily found in the material released, but in the unexpected effects of mixing ingredients into the stratosphere. That's what the Harvard project, called the Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment, or SCoPEx, aims to fix. The claim first surfaced in 2021 and has been previously debunked. American journalist Jack Posobiec was arrested at World Economic Forum., The Uvalde, Texas, mass shooter was an illegal alien., Says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he wants Americas sons and daughters to go die in Ukraine., In Ohio, there are 75,000 acres of farmland, fertile farmland, that are all now being poured down with acid rain., Muslims by the millions are converting to Christianity.. Geoengineers inch closer to Sun-dimming balloon test Keith wrote in a blog post last December there are "no easy answers" to climate change and noted that a "technology's risks depend on how it's used. A small amount of the substance, between 100g to 2kg, will be released to create an air mass roughly one kilometer long and one hundred meters in diameter. .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. 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. STOP HIM. Proponents of geoengineering have cited the global cooling effects of volcanic eruptions that result from the introduction of sulfuric ash into the atmosphere. An article headline says, "Bill Gates hatches 'horribly stupid' plan to block out the sun.". In 2015, the National Academies of Sciences, for example, released a two-part report on climate interventions like solar radiation management. The current global governance system is unfit to develop and implement the far-reaching agreements needed to maintain fair, inclusive, and effective political control over solar geoengineering deployment, they say, noting that, for example, the United Nations Security Council, dominated by only five countries with veto power, lacks the global legitimacy that would be required to effectively regulate solar geoengineering deployment., Frank Biermann, professor of global sustainability governance at Utrecht University and one of the letters initiators, summed up the signatories stance by saying: Solar engineering is not necessary. Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. Neither is it desirable, ethical, or politically governable.. In other words, it's a very small-scale project, far from the climate-altering claims about it that have surfaced on social media. Gates did not create such a plan. Bill Gates' Savior Complex Spirals Out of Control, Funds Sun-Dimming The test was originally scheduled for June 2021, but will be delayed until at least 2022. 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. I cover energy, security, Europe, Russia/Eurasia & the Middle East, The Sun setting into a pall of forest fire smoke, over Alberta from fires in BC and elsewhere, on August 17, 2018 This shows the dimming and reddening of the Sun as it set, with it disappearing from view long before it reached the horizon This was from home in southern Alberta, and is a Lighten blend mode stack of 20 images taken at 10 minute intervals, and shot on Auto Exposure with the Canon 6D MkII and 35mm lens The frames are part of a larger 200-frame timelapse processed with LRTimelapse. Thats hard to say right now, but all of the scientists and backers involved are only suggesting doing researchnot taking large-scale action. 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. Unlike sulfates, which can lead to ozone loss, calcium carbonate is not particularly reactive. This technology would trigger a global cooling effect," blared a viral tweet from RapTV, an . 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? The worst case scenario is that humankind faces an extreme climate emergency, but knows nothing about even the long-shot ways to address it. Instead, the balloon would test properties of the hardware and software needed for future trials, including propellers, power, data, navigation and the communication systems. What is solar geoengineering, anyway, and why are scientists suddenly interested inand concerned bythe concept? Her favorite topics include nuclear energy, cosmology, math of everyday things, and the philosophy of it all. Harvard researchers proposed a small-scale experiment that would spray aerosols into the atmosphere to reflect some sunlight back into space, a technology aimed at minimizing global warming. Bill Gates Will Have to Wait to Block the Sun, Bill Gates Is Thinking About Dimming the Sun, USAF's Reactor Creates Jet Fuel Out of Water, Air, Bill Gates-backed sun-blocking experiment, solar geoengineering experiment backed by Bill Gates, Harvard Universitys Solar Geoengineering Research Program, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Klicken Sie auf Alle ablehnen, wenn Sie nicht mchten, dass wir und unsere Partner Cookies und personenbezogene Daten fr diese zustzlichen Zwecke verwenden. In terms of solar radiation management, that is not the case. Gates did not personally hatch a plan, nor is he or anyone scheming to block out the sun. Now, some social media users are claiming that billionaire Bill Gates is planning to spray dust into the atmosphere to "block the sun" as a way to combat global warming. Mexico Bans Tests to Block the Sun: What Is Solar Geoengineering? Environmentalists similarly fear that a dramatic shift in mitigation strategy will be treated as a green light to continue emitting greenhouse gases with little to no changes in current consumption and production patterns. 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. The claim that solar geoengineering is an effort to "block out the sun" is inaccurate; the technology is a riff on a naturally occurring process. So what should humanity do about it? Weitere Informationen ber die Verwendung Ihrer personenbezogenen Daten finden Sie in unserer Datenschutzerklrung und unserer Cookie-Richtlinie. The article shared in the Facebook post also falsely claims that the experiment will "kick off in June." The name of the project is SCoPEx, or, Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment . In the case of Keutsch's experiment, the chemical will be calcium carbonate, which is essentially a chalk dust. The experiment would measure the risks and effectiveness of the technology. A Harvard experiment named SCoPEx is supported in part by these initiatives. A review is ongoing to determine if the proposed balloon launch alongside the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) can go ahead. SEAS Researchers Postpone Test Flight for Controversial Geoengineering Bill Gates Wants to Dim the Sun | What Is Solar Geoengineering? Unproven technology to block sun's rays raises practical, ethical But SCoPEx researcher and Harvard professor David Keithsays concerns like these are not supported by science. ", BILL GATES IS PLANNING TO BLOCK OUT THE SUN. Slippery-slope arguments aside, this is a far cry from an attempt to geoengineer the world. The data could improve the ability of computer models to predict how large-scale geoengineering may possibly disrupt out planet's ozone, the Harvard scientists explained. SATANSpiderman886note There is documentation of bull sharks in the Great Lakes. NO MORE CROPS, NO FOOD, NO PLANTS NO NOTHING!!! While the mechanism of an aerosol solar geoengineering study is simplethe physical structure of aerosol particles literally blocks and scatters lightthe reality is more complex. But the same factors that make solar geoengineering a radical idea make it almost impossible to test, even on the small scale. US geoengineers to spray sun-reflecting chemicals from balloon The United States, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia blocked a 2019 United Nations assessment of global geoengineering plans. For example, no credible scientist is arguing that SCoPEx, by releasing 4.4 pounds of chalky power 12 miles above the arctic, will, as the Daily Mail put it, "trigger a disastrous series of chain reactions, creating climate havoc in the form of serious droughts and hurricanes, and bring death to millions of people around the world." The stated goal of SCoPEx, as described on the project website, is the collection of data regarding the microphysics of aerosols in the upper atmosphere so that computer models analyzing geoengineering can be as accurate as possible: This experiment will help us learn more about the efficacy and risks of solar geoengineering. Two key aspects of this are Greenhouse Gas Removal . 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.. The launch will not release any stratospheric aerosols. You may need heart surgery or something. "We are not, for example, testing whether it's possible to scatter sunlight back to space, because there is no meaningful scientific uncertainty about that question.". Bill Gates Sun Blocking Study Postponed | Solar Geoengineering After much investigation, the team settled on using calcium carbonatechalk, essentiallyas an ideal light-blocking particle. The ultimate point of SCoPEx project is not to dim anything scientists do not need to test whether aerosols block sunlight, that fact is already well established but instead to release a small amount of the calcium carbonate (no more than 4.4 pounds) into the wake of a propeller-driven weather balloon flying 12 miles above the arctic, creating a diffuse cloud that is roughly 1000 yards long and 100 yards in diameter. USA TODAY has reached out to the poster for comment. To refine these models, scientists need to know how the aerosols interact with the atmosphere on a nanoscale. Further, a diffuse cloud of chalky powder gently perturbed by a propeller-driven weather balloon 12 miles above the arctic is in no way capable of altering the global climate system. We take a look at 7 End Times Headlines from all across the world. Remember the 2010 eruption of an Icelandic volcano that blocked the entire sky all the way into Europe? So what does this mean for SCoPEx, and for solar geoengineering in general? The article was shared on Facebook and was flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. Rather, the project seeks to understand the potential risks of geoengineering. Gates only connection to the research is through his donation to Harvards Solar Geoengineering Research Program, which is providing part of the funding for the project. This is geoengineerings addiction problem, often called its moral hazard. 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. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com, A project funded by Bill Gates "would help block out the sun. The eclipse is the first total solar eclipse since August 2017. 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. 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.". For now, research into the field is fairly limited. These are ideal for residential or commercial rooftops, but they're compatible with a ground-mount as well. It also has made him a frequent target for conspiracy theories. Fact check: Bill Gates is not trying to 'block the sun's rays' in the name of climate change. The science has spoken. 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. Fact Check: Is Bill Gates Trying to Block the Sun? - Newsweek The high conversion efficiency 100 watt PV panel can charge 12v /24v batteries, and it comes with a portable folding suitcase. The ultra-rich are on a mission to Show more . ", Explaining the balancing act, he continued: "People are right to fear over-reliance on technofixes. David Keith, a professor of applied physics and public policy at Harvard University, recognizes the very many real concerns of geoengineering. February . The Justice Department has been calling parents that are concerned about what their kids are being taught, they are labeling them terrorists., Sen. Marco Rubio signed a 2021 letter that supports waivers that would reduce visual track inspections.. "Bill Gates hatches 'horribly stupid' plan to block out the sun," says the headline on a Feb. 21 article on the Daily Star website. This is why, SCoPEx says, most research has focused on an aerosol chemical already found in the stratosphere: sulfuric acid, which is a pollutant. You'll get everything you need in one, includingan100W solar panel, 30A PWM negative ground charge controller, MC4 connectors, a8Ft 10 AWG tray cable, and mounting Z brackets for an RV or boat. Rather, it will serve as a test to maneuver the balloon and examine communications and operational systems. Geoengineering is a blanket term for technologies that try to alter Earths physical qualities on the largest scale possible. Official govt docs expose Michelle Obamas 14 year history as a man., "Woody Harrelsons 60 seconds in the middle of his monologue was cut out of the edits released after the show., BREAKING Trump preps Marines to stop presidential coup.. Bill Gates backs climate scientists lobbying for large-scale "It doesn't guarantee they'll make the right decision. According to Snopes,. The project originally was scheduled to have a test flight in Sweden in June 2021, but a Harvard advisory committee delayed it until at least 2022 in order to study potential impacts. UK researchers experiment with a solar geoengineering system called SATAN The post also claims: "Geo engineering is actually a thing and Bill Gates has been backed to try and 'block out the sun'." According to the Met Office, geoengineering is the "deliberate large-scale manipulation of climate". ", USDA is predicting egg prices will be $12 a dozen by fall 2022.. Microsofts Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has been supporting a wide array of research on geoengineering since 2007, ScienceInsider has learned. We should also note Gates' involvement in the SCoPEx project is purely financial. Is Russias Only Aircraft Carrier Cursed? But solar geoengineering is controversial, even according to the Harvard researchers who proposed the experiment. Such assertions or implications are misleading in several regards described in detail below. Update 01/22/2022 GMT1240: This post has been updated to clarify the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiatives stance on solar geoengineering technologies, as noted by C2G executive director Janos Pasztor. Opponents believe such science comes with unpredictable risks, including extreme shifts in weather patterns not dissimilar to warming trends we are already witnessing. In a December 2020 Boston Globe editorial, he wrote: Why the sharp divergence between media and science? The post referstoHarvard'sStratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment, orSCoPEx, which is financially backed by Gates. Then where do you go? Essay:Geo-Solar Engineering to Save the Planet - Conservapedia But the SCoPEx website says the current project's scope remains limited. Caroline Delbert is a writer, avid reader, and contributing editor at Pop Mech. That's why Bill Gates must block out the sun : r/conspiracy Such statements describe popularly held concerns about the concept of geoengineering as a whole. Bill Gates Will Have to Wait a While to Block the Sun - Yahoo! News Researcher Chris Field writes: Chapters in the report include the role of philanthropists like Gates, the goals of preparing future political decisionmakers, and the state of existing research about solar geoengineering.