Climate scientists are developing an umbrella-like shade the size of Argentina that would block the sun’s rays to mitigate the effects of global warming on Earth.
The far-fetched idea comes from Israeli researchers who believe that shading a million square miles could reduce the Earth’s temperature by 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit in two years.
The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology team is seeking up to $20 million for a 100-square-foot prototype, which they said could be achieved by 2027.
The ‘sail’ would be located more than nine million miles from Earth and would move through space opening and closing the shadow layer.
While researchers press ahead with the proposal, critics said the cost of the “megastructure” would be incredible: the Israeli design is expected to run into the trillions.
The ‘sail’ would be located more than nine million miles from Earth and would move through space opening and closing the shadow layer.
The umbrella would consist of lightweight solar sails attached to a solar-powered boat. The team has not shared details about the materials that will be used for the innovation.
Harvard physicist Avi Loeb commented on the project: “Erecting any of these ‘megastructures’ in space would be very expensive and would require significant international collaboration by reallocating funds from military budgets to peaceful purposes.”
Dimming or blocking the sun to cool the Earth has been a plan among many scientists.
In 2021, a $3 million Bill Gates initiative revealed that its goal was to spray millions of tons of chalk into the stratosphere.
And last year, the White House announced it was open to plans to block sunlight from reaching the Earth’s surface in an attempt to stop global warming.
While none of these plans have fully matured, the Israeli team hopes to have a prototype within the next three years.
Yoram Rozen, who heads the plan, said The New York Times: ‘We at the Technion are not going to save the planet.
The team said it would design a special rocket to carry its sunshade into space. The device would remain folded inside the ship and would open once it reaches the target position.
L1 is a position in space where the gravitational forces of a two-body system like the Sun and Earth produce enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion. That position, according to the team, will allow for a constant shadow over a giant portion of our planet.
“But we are going to show that it can be done.”
The project, called Cool Earth, would need 2.5 million curtains, but due to its size, the team said it would have to launch a series of smaller curtains.
The umbrella would consist of lightweight solar sails attached to a solar-powered boat.
The team has not shared details about the materials that will be used for the innovation.
The huge shadow appears to be flexible, allowing the team to fold it into a ship that will take it to the first Lagrange point (L1).
L1 is a position in space where the gravitational forces of a two-body system like the Sun and Earth produce enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion.
That position, according to the team, will allow for a constant shadow over a giant portion of our planet.
“(The demonstrator satellite) will perform a variable motion towards the sun and back to Earth, controlling the shadow sail,” the team shared on their website.
“In this way, the satellite will be able to maintain its position in space for a considerable period of time and without depending on complex propulsion systems.”
“(The demonstrator satellite) will perform a variable motion towards the sun and back to Earth, controlling the shadow sail,” the team shared on their website.
While the umbrella could reduce warming while pursuing other strategies to combat climate change, some experts believe the venture is a waste of time.
Susanne Baur, a doctoral candidate at the European Center for Advanced Research and Training in Scientific Computing in France, told the New York Times that the huge umbrella would be “astronomically expensive and could not be implemented in time.”
Adding to the costs, solar storms or asteroids could damage the shield, “causing rapid and sudden heating with disastrous consequences.”
Baur went on to explain that the billions of dollars needed for the sunshade could be better spent reducing emissions on Earth and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Morgan Goodwin, executive director of the nonprofit Planetary Sunshade Foundation, said shade is a possibility in the future because of the falling costs of space travel.
“We think that as climate people better understand the idea of umbrellas, it will be a pretty obvious part of the discussion,” said Goodwin, who is also senior director of the Sierra Club’s Angeles chapter.