Stratospheric Aerosol Injection: How Could we Globally Cool the Planet?

Next in our series, 'Big Ideas to Cool the Planet', Dr Luke Haworth and Dr Iman Toghraei will be speaking on 'Stratospheric Aerosol Injection: How Could we Globally Cool the Planet?' Join us for the seminar and provided pizza lunch from 1-2pm on Wednesday 28th October in LR4, Dept Engineering.

"Climate change arises from a fundamental imbalance in the Earth’s energy budget. While renewable energy technologies are essential for reducing emissions, the slow response of the climate system has led to growing interest in approaches that directly influence how energy is absorbed and reflected by the planet. This talk introduces the concept of climate repair via Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI). The audience will be generally introduced to what the Stratosphere is and why should we be interested in it before exploring what exactly is SAI. Further discussion will cover experimental methods of how one would accomplish SAI and what ideal materials may be. Alongside the experimental work, numerical methods for the evolution of SAI particles should they be introduced into the atmosphere will be discussed. Climate models provide valuable insights into possible SAI scenarios, but the connection between a concentrated release and the resulting atmospheric aerosol remains uncertain. We will briefly discuss how plume simulations and particle models can help us understand this evolution and address these uncertainties."

Dr Iman Toghraei is a Research Associate in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) at the University of Cambridge, working with Professor Peter Haynes. His work focuses on Novel Materials for Stratospheric Aerosol Injection, using high-resolution simulations to study the early evolution of particles after injection as the plume grows from a few metres to tens of kilometres across.

Dr Luke Haworth is a Post-Doctoral Research Associate in the Department of Engineering as part of the Centre for Climate Repair, working under the supervision of Professor Hugh Hunt and Professor Shaun Fitzgerald. The focus of his work is Novel Materials for Stratospheric Aerosol Injection, specifically investigating the methods, mechanisms and feasibility of a pumping system to introduce particles into the atmosphere. His research will be primarily experimental in mechanical engineering and physics taking inspiration from other industries with a potential modelling element.