Could Diamond Dust in the Stratosphere Cool the Earth? Exploring the Costly Geoengineering Proposal

Have you read it here on Digital Oil about crazy plans to create shields between the Earth and the Sun in an attempt to cool our planet. The latest of them is a little unusual (to say the least), incorporating a material that is very popular here: diamond. Or rather, his dust.

You can already imagine that this would cost so much to your adventure, right? But the measurement was actually analyzed in a study recently published in Geophysical Research Letters. The study not only analyzes the hypothesis, but also determines what is needed. The conclusion is that throwing 5 million tons of diamond dust into the stratosphere every year could cool the planet by 1.6ºC.

This reduction would be enough to mitigate the worst effects of global warming, but it would cost something in the range of US$200 trillion over the rest of this century. The cost seems to be much higher than other measures to reduce emissions, or even other geoengineering plans involving aerosols, but it did not stop the diamond from being in the analysis.

The study is also a warning about the importance of taking urgent measures to avoid the catastrophic climate scenario projected in the future by the current state of the Earth, as Research shows that it may be getting too late to reverse the situation.

Diamond dust in the stratosphere: what is the effect?

The research is another one for the use of stratospheric aerosol injection geoengineering, which involves the use of the most diverse types of materials to cool the stratosphere.

The dynamics behind this can be found in examples that we have already seen in nature, for example, volcanic eruptions. The tons of sulfur thrown into the atmosphere during the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 cooled the planet by up to 0.5ºC for several years. But sulfur also causes environmental consequences, being able to generate acid rain and putting life on Earth at risk. This could still cause a major climate disturbance.

Therefore, the study analyzed some other substances, which could cool the Earth without harm from sulphur. The scientists then built a 3D climate model that analyzed how certain properties behave as aerosols in the stratosphere and identified which ones would be more effective, taking into account processes of sedimentation, coagulation and also the time of each effect.

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They evaluated the impact of each particle over 45 years in the model, where each test took more than a week in real time on a supercomputer. In the end, the most effective material was diamond dust, which was very good at reflecting radiation while remaining in the air and preventing bending. The other competitors were aluminum and calcite.

However, this does not mean that diamonds are the new darling of geoengineering. Despite being much more efficient than sulphur, it has a cost that is considered completely unrealistic at the moment, making its poor cousin much more viable in this sense.

Sulfur would have a lower cost, as it is widely available in nature, as well as being a gas, which would allow it to be used. “I think it’s interesting to study these other materials,” said Douglas MacMartin, an engineer at Cornell University who studies climate science, when asked. Science. “But if you ask me today, what will be implemented, it will be sulfur,” he said.

This does not mean that sulfur will be used. Geoengineering is full of controversy and part of the scientific community believes that the idea of ​​sending tons of material into the stratosphere without being fully aware of the consequences is irresponsible. The most widely accepted conclusion is that the worst way to deal with global warming is to reduce emissions. But, as we said at the beginning of the text, time is short.