Science & Space
The Guardian reports that researchers have proposed launching plumes of lunar dust into space to deflect the sun’s rays away from Earth.
The concept involves creating a “sun shield” by extracting millions of tons of dust from the moon which will be used to partially block incoming sunlight. “A really exciting part of our study was the realization that natural lunar dust grains have exactly the size and composition needed to effectively scatter sunlight away from Earth,” said Ben Bromley, an astrophysicist at the University of Utah before continuing: “Since launching these grains from the surface of the moon requires much less energy than launching from Earth, the idea of the ‘moonshot’ really appealed to us.”
Divert from the real problem
According to Ben Bromley, a theoretical astrophysicist at the University of Utah who led the research, getting the extraction and projection equipment to the moon is a “significant project”. Bromley argues that this approach offers an advantage over other geoengineering proposals that have raised concerns regarding the spraying of reflective particles into Earth’s atmosphere. Meanwhile, Bromley stressed that the main task facing humanity remains the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases that warm the planet. Frank Biermann, professor of global sustainability governance at Utrecht University, warns that geoengineering is a dangerous distraction from the transition away from fossil fuels.
“What is needed is a massive reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, which requires rapid technological advances and socio-economic transitions. Mining the moon is not the answer we need,” reminded Frank Biermann.
