We’ve created mathematical cloud models to figure out what will happen if we were to blur the Sun: scientists are working on a very controversial project
We know, the climate crisis is the greatest threat to the survival of Earth and its inhabitants. Science also agrees that humans are largely to blame for climate change: now some scientists, politicians and popularizers are looking for solutions to stem the climate crisis. One of them is to tarnish the Sun.
Why Tarnish the Sun
Our Sun is certainly a source of life – and water, according to one recent theory – but the emissions we release into the atmosphere have also made it dangerous. And it’s also a star, and like all stars it will die sooner or later.
The idea of blurring the Sun is a very controversial solution, because it risks being dangerous. In fact, it could put agriculture all over the planet at serious risk and be essentially irreversible once started. Moreover, it could represent a sort of “Linus blanket” that prevents big polluters from stopping polluting because there is an “easy” way out.
But the same things can be said about the emissions we are continuing to release into the atmosphere: dimming the Sun could be our last chance.
Basically, with the Sun slightly dimmed less energy would reach the Earth’s surface, and less would be trapped on the planet due to increased carbon emissions. And then the planet would cool down.
To understand what would happen to our planet if we started dimming the sunlight some scientists, with the help of Amazon and other companies, have developed a mathematical model.
Scientists’ research
This is not the first time supercomputers, algorithms and big data have been used to predict climate change and the consequences that human interventions would have. In fact, it’s very common.
For this sun-blurring project, Amazon Web Service processors created 30 simulations of what the Earth might look like by mid-century. With a twist: the calculations and predictions are done in the cloud. Much cheaper than building a supercomputer.
In these simulated worlds, carbon dioxide levels would skyrocket, ice would disappear, and the years we now call “record warm” would be the norm. One of these simulations, however, would be different, a little more positive: and that’s the one where the Sun was blurred out.
Having a model, and being able to access the data, is certainly good for scientists around the world. And it’s also good that it’s being done in the cloud, where more data can be uploaded and analyzed at a fraction of the price of using supercomputers, and taking half the time as well.
And most importantly, it’s a way of working that could be applied to all areas of climate change action.