While the use of Aerosols is excellent and should be studied and researched more such is the point made by the article An open letter regarding research on reflecting sunlight to reduce the risks of climate change. It is imperative that we use more than just SIA’s to resolve global warming and climate change.

According to the open letter Stratospheric Aerosol Injection, even drastic emission reductions are unlikely to keep global warming to 1.5–2°C which in addition to the NDRC who states that global warming needs to be kept below 1.5°C before 2040 tells us that humanity faces a problem. With this in mind, the open letter says that aerosols cool the planet because of their unique property of scattering and reflecting light back out into space as it enters the atmosphere, and due to the lack of increasing regulations on aerosol emissions until recently, the Earth has experienced a cooling effect that has covered up the current true amount of global warming present. Slowly over the course of a few years, scientists around the world have noticed the effects of climate change as the aerosols that have been protecting us have faded from the atmosphere. At this point, it would take massive carbon dioxide reduction to keep warming below 1.5°C in the near future, but obstacles such as technology and people's attitudes about climate change make it unlikely that severe warming will be stopped. Therefore, the article takes the stance that strategically introduced aerosols (SIAs) need to be researched so that they might be implemented against global warming. They explain that when tested in the past, dispersing sulfur or calcium carbonate-based aerosols have shown promising results in lowering temperatures in that area.

With all of this in mind, it is important to acknowledge that there are issues that present themselves when SAIs is implemented as well as the fact that only solves one of the issues that are present with the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. 

One of the issues made apparent is the decrease in precipitation that can occur over locations where SAIs are implemented. This could cause issues in agricultural areas or in areas where people rely on runoff water from mountain streams. This could easily be avoided though by injecting in only places where it would not affect the general population or negatively affect the environment. To do this though, it is important to do further testing on the processes involved, this also being the position of the open letter.

Another one of the issues that becomes glaringly obvious after dispersing sunlight is that solar farms will now be less efficient. As solar energy isn't the most effective form of collecting energy, mostly only used to power residential homes at this point, if SAIs are implemented, they will become less worth the hassle for the worth. With all of this in mind, it is important to keep in mind that solar is not the only source of clean energy. Sources like nuclear, wind, and according to the United Nations article What is Ocean Energy What you need to know, the power to harness the waves themselves, all showing prospects with a CO2-free energy supply. Even with these prospects in mind, it will take further research and testing to figure out how viable these sources are and if they are viable to replace fossil fuels in the future.

While these issues and resolutions can be kept in mind, SAIs cannot fix the amount of carbon in our atmosphere. Carbon in the atmosphere causes a multitude of problems that result in the heating of the planet as well as the acidification of the ocean. When the CO2 that our cars, trains, factories, and cargo ships all gets dispersed into the atmosphere, it creates a layer that reflects sunlight back onto the surface of the planet over and over eventually heating up the planet with the greenhouse effect. Some of the CO2 also reacts with the ocean water and combines to acidify the ocean. According to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with acidity levels in the oceans rising, marine life will also suffer as said in their article called Ocean Acidification, “Ocean acidification is already impacting many ocean species, especially organisms like oysters and corals.” They then explain how the use of seaweed farming can positively affect the environment. If we are to solve other issues associated with climate change it's best to allocate our resources towards fixing other issues just as important such as ocean acidification.

While SAIs are important to research as they will help provide a safer and more habitable place to live for future generations, it is also important that we as citizens of the globe do our part in researching other methods to achieve a better cleaner planet. This all comes together to support that we should promote a variety of studies and practices in an attempt to try to heal the planet we all live on.

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Works Cited

An open letter regarding research on reflecting sunlight to reduce the risks of climate change. climate intervention research letter. (2023, May 24). https://climate-intervention-research-letter.org/United Nations. (n.d.). What is renewable energy?. United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-renewable-energy?gclid=CjwKCAiAu9yqBhBmEiwAHTx5p28he8n7GgkFca3bS7Rpv7bOC9AUtm5nU-askPeejntPlksUpr3CURoCFXoQAvD_BwE

Ocean acidification - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (n.d.). https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/ocean-acidification

Amanda MacMillan, J. T. (2021, April 7). Global warming 101. Definition, Facts, Causes and Effects of Global Warming. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/global-warming-101?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAgqGrBhDtARIsAM5s0_mqA2_7L3XZwRFWtyDo-r9rQdBt_DiPP79YsJw1T0y5Cz-k-SZRDy8aAg88EALw_wcB#causes

This is a real thing; what if a country or for-profit organization decided to start seeding the atmosphere to prevent uv exposure? https://big-brains.simplecast.com/episodes/a-radical-solution-to-address-climate-change-with-david-keith-4E3uPPOn

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Photo of AI generated image depicting Stratospheric Aerosol Injection.

WORLD FEDERALISM

A world run by humanity, for humanity, providing equal opportunity to all on a thriving planet.

IN A NUTSHELL

Federalism is a means of achieving a balance between unity and diversity by vertically separating powers. The sovereignty of the world federation originates from the sovereignty of humanity.

Decisions and responsibilities should be distributed to the lowest level of government at which they can be effectively addressed. This principle of subsidiarity ensures that power stays as close to the people as possible.

A global federation would not replace sovereign nations: these would continue to deal with national issues. A world federation would complement national sovereignty over national issues with an additional, global layer of governance for a clearly defined set of global issues.

A world federation derives its legitimacy both from the constituent nations and the inherent, global citizenship of all people in the world.

Sauce: www.ywf.world

I'm currently a Climate Policy Advisor at an environmental NGO and I've just started a YouTube channel. I've made a video ranking my first 5 environmental jobs in government, research, construction, NGO, and tutoring.

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