# ecol: a umbrella coordination; the Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (SCoPEx)

<<  Researchers plan to spray sunlight-reflecting particles into the stratosphere, an approach that could ultimately be used to quickly lower the planet’s temperature. >>

<< The idea is simple: spray a bunch of particles into the stratosphere, and they will cool the planet by reflecting some of the Sun’s rays back into space. >>

<< The first phase - a US$3-million test involving two flights of a steerable balloon 20 kilometres above the southwest United States — could launch as early as the first half of 2019. Once in place, the experiment would release small plumes of calcium carbonate, each of around 100 grams, roughly equivalent to the amount found in an average bottle of off-the-shelf antacid. The balloon would then turn around to observe how the particles disperse. >>

<< The SCoPEx team’s initial stratospheric experiments will focus on calcium carbonate, which is expected to absorb less heat than sulfates and to have less impact on ozone. But textbook answers - and even Dai’s (Zhen Dai) tabletop device - can’t capture the full picture. “We actually don’t know what it would do, because it doesn’t exist in the stratosphere,” Keutsch (Frank Keutsch) says. “That sets up a red flag.” >>

Jeff Tollefson. First sun-dimming experiment will test a way to cool Earth. Nature. Nov 27, 2018; Correction Nov 30, 2018.   https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07533-4  

<< SCoPEx is a scientific experiment to advance understanding of stratospheric aerosols that could be relevant to solar geoengineering. >>

SCoPEx. Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment. Keutsch Research Group. Harvard University. 12 Oxford Street. Cambridge, MA 02138   https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/keutschgroup/scopex