Facebook co-founder Moskovitz funds sunlight reflection research

Scientists from Africa, Asia and South America are getting a new infusion of $900,000 to study the effects of sunlight reflection to cool the Earth and reduce the impact of global warming. The money comes from Open Philanthropy, a venture funded primarily by billionaire Dustin Moskovitz, one of its founders Facebook and Asanasand his wife, Cari Tuna.

Reflecting sunlight involves releasing aerosols like sulfur dioxide high in the atmosphere to reflect sunlight back into space, to reduce global warming. (Sometimes called solar radiation modification or solar geoengineering.)

The idea has been around for decades, but is being taken seriously as the effects of climate change become more apparent. While volcanic eruptions have proven that the technique works, there are also significant risks, including damage to the ozone layer, acid rain and increased respiratory disease.

On Tuesday, the nonprofit research organization The Degrees Initiative and the United Nation’s World Academy of Sciences announced the distribution of more than $900,000 to scientists across Africa, Asia and South America to study solar radiation modification in a program called “The Degrees Modeling Fund.” The Degrees Initiative has been funded by various donors over the years, but the largest is Open Philanthropy and the entire $900,000 disbursement announced Tuesday came from that group, Degrees Initiative founder and CEO Andy Parker told CNBC.

The money will go to 81 scientists in Benin, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Thailand and Uganda working on 15 solar geoengineering modeling projects.

Solar radiation is gaining more attention as scientists begin to suggest that its negative effects may not be as bad as the damage from future climate change. The White House Office of Science and Technology is coordinating a five-year research plan into solar geoengineering and in January, UN-backed quadrennial Montreal Protocol assessment report including about all the stratospheric aerosol injection addresses for the first time ever.

“Like any wise person, when I first heard about the idea of ​​blocking the sun, I thought it was a terrible idea. As time went on, the view did not change. It was a terrible idea,” Parker told CNBC. “But it may prove less dire than not using it and allowing temperatures to keep rising if we don’t cut emissions far enough.”

Reflecting sunlight is not the solution to climate change or global warming. This is a relatively quick and cheap way to cool the earth temporarily. We know it works: In the 15 months after Mount Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines in 1991, average global temperatures were about 1 degree Fahrenheit lower, according to NASA. Releasing sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere from a docked aircraft would mimic the way volcanoes release aerosols into the atmosphere.

“It’s not a fun idea. It’s not fun to work on. But it’s potentially important, it could be very, very helpful, it could be disastrous,” Parker told CNBC.

“I compare this decision to chemotherapy. Chemotherapy to treat cancer is also a terrible idea. It is very dangerous. It is not pleasant. It is risky. And no one will consider it if they are afraid that the alternative could be worse. solar geoengineering,” he said .

Before launching The Degrees Initiative, Parker led the production of a 98-page report on geoengineering for The Royal Society, an independent science academy in England, and has conducted research at Harvard and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Potsdam, Germany.

One of Parker’s goals with the Degree Initiative is to ensure that scientists from developing countries in the global south will be part of the international conversation about solar radiation, he told CNBC.

“If it is possible to reduce the impact of climate change, then they have the most because they are on the front line of global warming,” he said. “If, on the other hand, everything goes wrong and there are bad side effects, or maybe if it is rejected prematurely, when it could help, then the developing countries lose the most.”

But without philanthropic contributions, research and decisions on solar geoengineering will be primarily relegated to parts of the world where it can, such as North America, the European Union and Japan, Parker said.

The $900,000 announced Tuesday is the second funding of its kind. In 2018, The Degrees Modeling Fund distributed $900,000 to 11 projects in Argentina, Bangladesh, Benin, Indonesia, Iran, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Philippines and South Africa.

The money goes out in grants of up to $75,000, of which $60,000 is for salaries and $15,000 for the tools the local research team needs, Parker told CNBC. Each scientific team must recommend its own proposal in the application for grant money, he said. But in general, each team’s job is to use computer models to predict weather and regional impacts – with and without solar reflections.

“By comparing the two, they can start to generate evidence of what impact the modification of solar radiation can have on things that are important locally,” said Parker.

Ines Camilloni, professor at the University of Buenos Aires, has received two Degree Initiative grants and is also funded by the Argentine government. With the funding, Camilloni is researching how modification of solar radiation will affect the hydroclimate of the La Plata Basin, the world’s fifth largest water basin, which includes parts of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, he told CNBC.

“A large part of the economic activity in the basin depends on the availability of water, including agriculture, river navigation and hydroelectric production, and therefore variations in the water cycle of the basin can have a significant impact on the economy of each country,” said Camilloni. CNBC.

Camilloni said his research so far has shown that solar reflection can be beneficial for some areas of the La Plata Basin, but harmful for others. Large rivers that power hydroelectric dams could see higher flows and increased energy production, offset by other flood risks.

In Buenos Aires, the awareness of sunlight reflection has grown over the years, and it evokes strong emotions.

“The feelings generated by the modification of solar radiation range from disbelief to fear. Everyone thinks it’s controversial,” Camilloni told CNBC.

Clear communication is crucial, as research advocates do not see it as a climate change silver bullet.

“This is not Plan A for how you deal with climate risk, and whatever happens, we have to reduce emissions,” Parker told CNBC. “But people are finally starting to seriously address the question: What should we do if it is not enough to reduce emissions, if it is not enough to prevent dangerous climate change? What are our options? we have to think about the modification of solar radiation.”

Correction: Andy Parker is co-founder and CEO of The Degrees Initiative. Earlier versions did not attribute some of the quotes to him.