Computer simulations reveal that spraying sea salt aerosols may keep global temperatures near 2020 levels as air pollution falls—but may also redraw regional weather patterns.
This actually only matters if we stop flying. Currently, fossil fuel consumption is doing this thing that reduces global warming in the short term (atmospheric aerosols), so if we stop polluting this thing will stop happening. However, spraying salt into the stratosphere would be a far less polluting way to keep doing the same thing.
We can also not do the thing, which means an extra degree of global warming, or we can keep using fossil fuels, which means an extra degree of global warming every decade or two plus that extra degree when fossil fuels run out.
(I say “global warming” deliberately, because these aerosols do lead to more climate change on a continental scale even if on a global scale those changes average out somewhat. 3 degrees of warming with aerosols is worse than 3 degrees without aerosols, though it’s still better than 4 degrees).
Anything to avoid riding a bicycle and not flying.
Love it
This actually only matters if we stop flying. Currently, fossil fuel consumption is doing this thing that reduces global warming in the short term (atmospheric aerosols), so if we stop polluting this thing will stop happening. However, spraying salt into the stratosphere would be a far less polluting way to keep doing the same thing.
We can also not do the thing, which means an extra degree of global warming, or we can keep using fossil fuels, which means an extra degree of global warming every decade or two plus that extra degree when fossil fuels run out.
(I say “global warming” deliberately, because these aerosols do lead to more climate change on a continental scale even if on a global scale those changes average out somewhat. 3 degrees of warming with aerosols is worse than 3 degrees without aerosols, though it’s still better than 4 degrees).