NO SHADE

Facebook Co-Founder Funds Plans to Reflect Sunlight Into Space

The idea is to temporarily cool the Earth by spraying aerosols in the atmosphere.

A Facebook co-founder is funding research projects to study the effects of reflecting sunlight back into space in a bid to fight the effects of global warming. Cash from Open Philanthropy—a venture funded mainly by billionaire Dustin Moskovitz—has been given to nonprofit research organization The Degrees Initiative to fund scientists working on so-called “solar geoengineering” studies. The process involves releasing aerosols like sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere that reflect sunlight back into space and consequently cooling the planet. “It’s a horrible idea,” Degrees Initiative CEO Andy Parker told CNBC. “But it may prove to be less horrible than not using it and allowing temperatures to keep rising if we don’t cut our emissions far enough.”