A large helium balloon, 20 metres in length and attached to an 800 metre long hosepipe, will be raised 1 kilometre above Norfolk next month in order to test an innovative way of cooling the Earth down.
Scientists are testing the feasibility of applying geo-engineering techniques in order to prevent global warming. The hosepipe attached to the balloon could be used to pump particles into the atmosphere which will reflect the sun's rays away from the Earth, ultimately cooling it down. However, the test in Norfolk next month will only involve pumping water to see if the technology could work.
Such a method of cooling the Earth is inspired by volcanic eruptions. For example, the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991 saw an average global temperature drop of 0.5 degrees Celsius for two years as a result of the aerosols that the volcano released which reflected the sun's rays.
The tests in Norfolk will help those involved to see if a larger scale project could be launched in order to release reflective particles into the atmosphere, which could potentially decrease the global temperature by about two degrees Celsius. However, the project would only help to prevent global warming, and would not help to reduce carbon emissions.
Dr Matt Watson, who is leading the SPICE project (Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering) said, "We are still decades away from doing this and it's not simply a science decision. There are ethical and Governmental decisions around this that are huge. Just because we can do it doesn't mean that we have the right to do it".
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