Harvard's Solar Geoengineering Project Canceled Amidst Controversy and Ongoing Debates

TapTechNews August 13th news, a controversial solar geoengineering project at Harvard University in the United States has been cancelled. This project aims to artificially cool the Earth by releasing particles that can reflect sunlight into the atmosphere.

According to TapTechNews, Harvard University launched a project named SCoPEx (Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment) in 2017, which planned to release aerosols into the stratosphere through balloons to observe their impact on the environment and establish a more accurate computer model. However, this plan was never realized, and the project was stranded in the Swedish test flight stage in 2021 due to the strong opposition of the local Sami indigenous people. The research team did not communicate with the Sami people in advance, which triggered widespread criticism. In 2023, Harvard University informed the SCoPEx Advisory Committee that the project had been suspended, and the project was completely cancelled in March this year.

Although the SCoPEx project has been cancelled, the discussion about solar geoengineering governance it triggered is still continuing. Some experts point out that before carrying out such experiments that may change the Earth's environment, public opinions must be widely solicited. At the same time, governments of all countries should also strengthen cooperation and formulate relevant regulatory policies.

Some people believe that solar geoengineering has huge risks and may lead to problems such as acid rain and the destruction of the Antarctic ozone layer, and may even become an obstacle to the clean energy transition.

At present, there is a ban on large-scale solar geoengineering internationally, except for small-scale scientific research. However, some small enterprises have begun to conduct unauthorized experiments, increasing the difficulty of supervision. Experts warn that if an effective governance framework is not established in time, chaos may occur in the solar geoengineering field.