Proposal to create 'sunshades' in space to reduce global temperatures

Professor Yoram Rozen and his team at the Asher Institute for Space Research at the Technion Institute of Technology in northern Israel want to create a large sunshade that can slow down global warming. The project is called "Cool Earth".

Illustration of the Cool Earth sunshade being developed at the Technion Institute of Technology (Israel)

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The idea is to launch a massive blanket weighing 2.5 million tonnes 1.5 million kilometres into space, to a specific region where the effects of gravitational pressure and solar wind are minimal. The shade would move with the Earth as it orbits the sun, mainly above equatorial regions.

The opaque blanket would be made of a thin, reflective material already used in solar sails in space. “It’s not like a cloud coming between you and the sun. It’s more like the difference in light between noon and 2 p.m. The data suggests the impact on biology and photosynthesis will be negligible,” Rozen explains.

“The blanket would need a controller. A spacecraft would rotate it and decide where it is and when to turn it on and off. Satellites would send back pictures of the direction of the shade in different locations at different times,” said Mr. Rozen.

Illustration of the Cool Earth sunshade being developed at the Technion Institute of Technology (Israel)

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If the blanket is deployed, it would take 18 months for the Earth to cool by 1.5 degrees Celsius. Once that goal is reached, some of the shade would be left in place to maintain the temperature. The rest could be turned toward the sun. A prototype could be ready in three to four years once funding is secured.

The main problem, however, is the project’s astronomical cost. According to a recent study in the scientific journal Nature, the entire project is estimated to cost $30 trillion – more than the current GDP of the United States but less than the $38 trillion estimated annual damage from global warming by mid-century.

Mr. Rozen said the Asher Institute had been working with the National Science and Space Center of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Gulf state had planned to present the project at the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) in Dubai in November-December last year. But the UAE then stopped cooperation after Israel began its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/de-xuat-tao-o-che-nang-tren-vu-tru-de-giam-nhiet-do-toan-cau-185240801162804404.htm