Stratospheric sulfur injection might be something we need to put off until we are firmly on the path of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and have reached a point where it would be more expensive to leave that path than to continue reducing.
That's because, if what the internet has told me is correct, sulfur injections only stay in the atmosphere for a couple of years. If we use them to mitigate warming before we've addressed greenhouse gases the injections have to be ongoing. Stop the injections and in a couple of years the warming comes back.
You really don't want a situation where you end up doing injections for a decade or two and then it stops for some reason. You then get in a couple of years a level of warming that without the injections would have happened over a decade or two. Getting that warming rapidly is probably a lot harder for people to deal with.
Assuming it works the way you are describing, that rapid change is what we need right now. People are claiming this year isn't much hotter than last year and drag their feet. But it is much hotter than a decade ago for sure. If we go from 80F summers to 100F then people can't deny the problem. But if we go from 95F to 100F, some guys will say just crank up that AC and don't be a wuss or something.
Aside from technological adaptation, the other thing that makes me hopeful is that "the world is ending" has been a meme since long before memes were a thing.
However, those old memes didn't have science, aka atmospheric chemistry, on their side.
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I was one of those contributing to the derision. I am now rethinking my negative thoughts on the topic.
I must admit that funding stratospheric sulfur injection + funding Terraform Industries, might be our best bet, given the timeline.
I would love to hear about alternatives.
That's because, if what the internet has told me is correct, sulfur injections only stay in the atmosphere for a couple of years. If we use them to mitigate warming before we've addressed greenhouse gases the injections have to be ongoing. Stop the injections and in a couple of years the warming comes back.
You really don't want a situation where you end up doing injections for a decade or two and then it stops for some reason. You then get in a couple of years a level of warming that without the injections would have happened over a decade or two. Getting that warming rapidly is probably a lot harder for people to deal with.
However, those old memes didn't have science, aka atmospheric chemistry, on their side.
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