Some scientists want to hack the planet to cool it down – and the consequences could be extreme

Fleets of planes in the stratosphere, space mirrors and other geoengineering technologies offer a chance to reverse the worst effects of climate change. But might the cure be worse than the disease?

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On a small Indonesian island in April 1815, a volcano changed the course of human history. The ‘super-colossal’ eruption of Mount Tambora was the most violent volcanic eruption ever recorded, blasting so much ash and debris into the upper atmosphere that it induced a period of global cooling known as the ‘Year Without a Summer’.

The volcano’s impact on Earth’s climate resulted in crop failures, famine and social unrest. Some historians have even attributed Napoleon’s loss at Waterloo to the two months of unseasonal rain that preceded the battle. Temperatures around the world dropped by an average of 3℃ for several years before the plume’s microparticles dissipated and the climate returned to pre-eruption levels.

Now, 200 years later, some climate scientists are proposing a technique known as stratospheric aerosol injection that would artificially mimic the effects of a massive volcanic eruption. If successful, it could slow down, or even reverse, the worst effects of human-induced global warming.