Researchers from the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science (ETH Zurich) have experimented with spraying various aerosols into the atmosphere, analysing which materials have the most significant cooling effect.
This study has drawn attention to ‘diamond dust' with suggestions it could potentially cool the planet by 1.6°C. Diamond dust particles were deemed the most effective, as they reflected most heat and light and were less likely to clump together.
"The resulting side-effects on circulation and climate, especially from diamond injections, could be substantially reduced compared to SO2 (sulphur dioxide), making diamond particles most suitable for SAI (stratospheric aerosol injection) from an optical properties perspective among the materials investigated here," the report explains.
"We suggest further research on agglomeration processes in turbulent aircraft wakes as well as on measurements of optical properties of a variety of potential solid particle materials."
The researchers created a 3D climate model to explore the effects of the aerosols, and while diamond dust was deemed the most effective, there’s a catch. It’s estimated that a project using diamond dust to cool the Earth would cost more than $USD200 trillion.
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