Controversial test flight to cool the planet canceled

Scientists in the United States and Europe have canceled a controversial balloon test flight scheduled to take place in far north Sweden in June, as part of a controversial solar geoengineering experiment aimed at artificially cooling the planet.

A team of Harvard scientists had planned to launch a high-altitude balloon from the Esrange space station in the Swedish city of Kiruna, to test whether it could in the future carry material to release particles reflecting solar radiation into the earth atmosphere.

The project was named SCoPEx, short for “Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment”.

Mimicking the effect of volcanic eruptions, proponents of the project say the technology should be studied to see if it could become a method of combating global warming.

But the project, like geoengineering itself, has raised concerns among scientists and environmentalists who say the technology is dangerous and risky.

Critics fear that injecting particles into the stratosphere could damage the ozone layer and disrupt ecosystems.

“The scientific community is divided when it comes to geoengineering,” the Swedish Space Society (SSC), which operates Esrange, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Following dialogues with experts, stakeholders and Harvard University, “SSC has decided not to perform the technical test flight scheduled for this summer.”

A special committee created by Harvard to study the societal and ethical aspects of the project had also requested that the test flight be postponed in order to examine the implications for the indigenous Sami people of Sweden and Sweden in general.

The committee recommended “that societal engagement take place in Sweden before any SCoPEx research is conducted in the country”.

“This will likely delay the launch of the platform until 2022,” he said.

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© 2021 AFP