Government approves £50,000,000 experiment to dim the sun

Just when we’re finally out of the dark days of winter and enjoying it still being daylight after work, there’s set to be an experiment to essentially dim the sun.

Yep, the UK government have approved a £50 million experiment to see if there’s a way of turning down the dial on the big old fireball in the sky.

Ok, so they’re not exactly trying to rig a dimmer switch to create a bit of ambient lighting. But scientists do want to explore the potential of bouncing away sunlight in a bid to combat global warming.

The environmental research is set to be given the go-ahead within weeks as the whopping amount of money is likely to be splashed on launching these outdoor geoengineering experiments and analysis.

Scientists are looking at deflecting some of the Sun (Getty Stock)

According to the UK government agency backing the plan, Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria), the experiments will be small-scale and rigorously assessed.

Once conducted, they will apparently provide ‘critical’ data needed to assess the potential of the technology.

The techniques set to be explored include spraying aerosolised particles high into the stratosphere, consequently deflecting a small bit of the sun’s energy away from our planet. Some early studies have suggested that doing this would be a relatively cheap way of cooling down Earth.

Seawater sprays could even be used to make clouds brighter and deflect solar radiation.

By reducing the surface temperatures and harm caused by the climate crisis, there could be more time allowed for the deep cuts needed in global carbon emissions, according to The Guardian.

However, not everyone is supporting of this use of geoengineering, with experts warning that solar radiation management (SRM) could inflict serious, unintended consequences, like a potentially catastrophic disruption of weather patterns.

Leading the Aria programme, Professor Mark Symes said the research could include ‘small controlled outdoor experiments on particular approaches’.

Many of the geoengineering plans are controversial. (Getty Stock)

“The uncomfortable truth is that our current warming trajectory makes a number of such tipping points distinctly possible over the next century,” he said. “This has driven increased interest in approaches that might actively cool the world in a short timeframe in order to avoid those tipping points.

“Having spoken to hundreds of researchers, we reached the conclusion that a critical missing part of our understanding was real world, physical data.

"These would show us whether any of these potential approaches would actually work and what their effects might be. Modelling and indoor studies are essential as prerequisites but can only tell us so much.”

He added that no toxic substances would be released, that local communities will be consulted and that an environmental impact assessment will be published beforehand.

But there is criticism and the proposals are controversial, some senior scientists even called SRM ‘barking mad’.