Geoengineering and the climate crisis

In 2007, a document believed to be from a US government report made its way into the public domain. Within its turgid pages, one line caught the attention more than most:

“Modifying solar radiance may be an important strategy if mitigation of emissions fails. Doing R&D to estimate the consequences of applying such a strategy is important insurance that should be taken out.”

It has been posited by some scientists that reflecting just 1 per cent of the sunlight intensity back into space could compensate for all the greenhouse gas released since the industrial revolution. In other words, we would build a gigantic parasol in outer space and try to position it between the Earth and the Sun. At least some of the radiation that comes in from the Sun would then be obstructed before it hits our planet and the average temperatures on the surface of the Earth would begin to fall.