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submitted 1 year ago by trashhalo@beehaw.org to c/news@beehaw.org

Scientists have discovered that the recent spike in global temperatures may be caused by a reduction in sulfur dioxide pollution from shipping vessels. Ships have long emitted sulfur dioxide, which cools the planet by seeding clouds and reflecting sunlight. However, new regulations that limit sulfur in ship fuels took effect in 2020, leading to a loss of this cooling effect equivalent to a large volcanic eruption each year. Models show this reduction in sulfur dioxide pollution can explain the extra warming seen in the North Atlantic. While pollution is bad, the new regulations provide a natural experiment that gives insight into how intentional geoengineering could potentially combat climate change in the future.

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[-] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 19 points 1 year ago

I think the idea is to do it over oceans.

[-] FaceDeer@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

But then we'll get salt in the oceans and kill all the fish.

[-] Mutoid@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

We sprayed it outside the environment.

[-] strepto@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

We'll noclip out of the map and spray it out of bounds

[-] that_one_guy@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

How certain could we be of where these clouds would fall once they were created?

[-] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 year ago

A good question, I’m not an expert on this unfortunately. A quick google search did not reveal any answers.

this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2023
256 points (100.0% liked)

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