/leftypol/ - Leftist Politically Incorrect

Stratospheric Aerosol Injection. How many times do I have to say this? The solution to Global Warming already exists. You just spray 1 million tons of SO2 into the stratosphere every year at the cost of $50 billion and you reverse the 1.5 - 2 degrees C warming since pre-industrial times.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratospheric_aerosol_injection

https://makesunsets.com/

https://stardustsrt.com/

https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/11/1129239/solar-geoengineering-startups-are-getting-serious/

>>2857155 (me)
*10 million tons of SO2. Still a small amount compared to the 37,000 million tons of CO2 we release every year.

By the way, I was wrong about $50 billion, turns out its much less, about $10-20 billion per year

>>2857155
>>2857159
wouldn't it be much safer to stimulate a volcano somewhere relatively uninhabited than this risky experiment?

>>2857160
No because first of all, volcanos release a ton of pollution apart from merely SO2 that harm the local environment. Also volcanos only release a fraction of the SO2 into the stratosphere, while the majority remains in the troposphere.

SO2 based cooling works best when its released in the stratosphere because that results in even spread worldwide, much less atmospheric reactions, and much less acid rain. Also most importantly, SO2 released in the stratosphere lasts 1-2 years before falling down, while tropospheric SO2 washes away in days.

Btw SO2 is just one candidate because its so cheap and easy, you can also use calcite, or coated silica particles which have even less side effects.

And if you're wondering about the side effects of SO2, the answer is that 10 million tons of SO2 per year evenly spread worldwide is just 20% of annual SO2 emissions, and because its so spread out, it practically results in no acid rain. It only has a slight effect on ozone levels.


But more importantly you need to realize the massive amounts of human lives and money saved from "fixing" global warming. Just for air-conditioning alone, it's estimated that reducing global temps by 1.5C will save $20-$40 billion in AC electricity usage, and that number saved will increase as the third world increasingly uses more AC.

Also the decreased disaster frequency and intensity will save trillions of dollars. And millions of human lives will be saved. There is also the psychological benefit of cooler temps in summer which will improve human mood and productivity.

If SO2 is still a concern (and it shouldn't be) then you can simply spend a bit more and use calcite or coated amorphous silica instead.

There is literally no reason not to do this already, I suspect some very hot Global South country like India or Indonesia will eventually do this on its own if global warming isn't stopped quickly enough. Maybe China will take it up as well. But there are also Western startups that are planning to do this, and there's an increasing
push among the scientific community to start doing geoengineering as soon as possible.

>>2857177
>It only has a slight effect on ozone levels.
Like? Is there a danger that it destroys ozone?

>>2857101
Why the fuck do hate Al Gore so much? Ever since I was a teenager, I've seen Republicans and lolberts push this narrative that he either wants to take over the world and make life less fun or that he's somehow profiting from climate change.

>>2857155
Nah man its over

>>2857282
It's hard to overstate just how much many American Gen Xers disliked him because of his wife's role in the PMRC. To a lot of people, he came across as a no-fun authoritarian.

it was really worth developing the productive forces for this

>>2724691
Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it was historically progressive.

>>2857282
Al Gore wanted to make us drive electric cars which is bad for oil companies.

one easy solution to all of this…

>>2851847
Honestly it might. At least in South Asia the heat has become genuinely oppressive in ways we've never seen before. I think it's only a single extreme heat wave kills tens of thousands of people, if not more. At that point I think the governments will have no choice but to take the crisis seriously and introduce some form of state-level intervention and at the same remove the old feudal and cooperate entities.

>>2857155
It seems the most likely option

>Summary: Hacking the atmosphere: Geoengineering gets a reality check
Solar geoengineering — the idea of reflecting sunlight back into space to counteract global warming — is moving from computer modelling into serious practical engineering research. Inspired by the cooling effect of volcanic eruptions, the concept involves releasing reflective aerosols into the stratosphere, but numerous technical obstacles remain unsolved.
>The University of Chicago's Climate Systems Engineering Initiative (CSEi), launched in 2024 under veteran researcher David Keith, is at the centre of this shift. Researchers there are working on multiple fronts: designing novel high-altitude aircraft capable of reaching the stratosphere over the tropics, developing the right aerosol chemistry and dispersal mechanisms, and building satellite and balloon-based monitoring infrastructure. A concept plane developed with aeronautical engineer John Langford features an oversized wingspan and detachable payload tank; a fleet of 270 could disperse enough material to reduce global temperatures by roughly 0.26°C.
>The nonprofit Reflective has mapped the remaining unknowns in a public database, identifying six engineering obstacles — from retrofitting existing aircraft for polar deployments to preventing a looming gap in stratospheric satellite coverage. A 2024 analysis estimated that a polar-focused initial programme capable of 2°C regional cooling by 2040 could require a decade of work and $35 billion.
>Critics warn that advancing practical engineering normalises a dangerous idea, risks undermining emissions reduction efforts, and cannot be deployed equitably — with wealthy actors inevitably shaping who benefits and who suffers. Governance researchers argue this work warrants the same ethical oversight as outdoor experiments.
>Keith and colleagues counter that withholding research into a technology that could prevent mass suffering sets an unacceptably high bar, and that open scientific debate is the best safeguard. Keith now states publicly that he would vote in favour of early, carefully monitored deployment if given the choice.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/06/17/1138743/hacking-atmosphere-geoengineering-reality-check/

fucked

In my grandmother's home village it used to snow every single winter. Then little by little it lessened and by the 2000s it stopped completely. After that winters were just cold and chilly. I went back there a few months ago and it was genuinely hot. I was sweating the whole time. I'd been there so many times growing up and this just felt wrong. It wasn't normal. Everyone there knew it wasn't natural.

Well forests are burning at really fast rates in the area here again, joyous times. Everything is dry as a mf already.

>Inb4 just use AC to stop the forest fire

Everything is fucked fucked FUCKED

>>2859857
I'm old enough to have lived through many whit Christmases, that idea is laughable now.

>>2732777
that already happens and it has forever

>>2860018
What region are you from?

>>2860208
Nice try cia

anyway pyrenees mountain range

>>2857155
Still doesn't solve ocean acidification

>>2860291
Snowfall has stopped that far north?

>>2860407
just add a bunch of Drano, obviously!

>>2860416
We will get there when we get there

>>2860438
Let's see what happens

>>2860416
Stupid me, that's not what I meant, that's where I live now but I grew up in the benelux where it hardly snows anymore as well, that said mountain snow is disappearing as well here.

so the end of history is mad max?

>>2827651
yeah its increasingly looking like the dead future is happening.

Stop dooming so much. Even without a revolution technological progress is doing leap and bounds and then it's a matter of some policy changes. Plant based ethanol production will basically go away in the next decades with EV adoption, meanwhile artificial meat you can make from compost or poop will become cheaper and mostly better than the real thing. That alone will liberate a lot of land area, food won't be an issue.

Renewables are already on a quasi exponential curve and down the line offer possibilities of using energy intensive carbon capture tech. The development of third world countries from that cheap energy will allow more people to be educated and further increase our intellectual and engineering output to tackle all those problems.

The mode of production we are in is not very adapted to the challenges we have to face to say the least but some people are trying to make the best of it to offer humanity some useful tools and they are doing a good job.

>>2862772
There are two moronic extremes, the "we're all headed toward death/a Mad Max world" and the "nothing's going to happen" camp.

I have some sympathy for the former because I'm from a region that's been hit hard by climate change. I understand where that feeling comes from. but I do agree with you that so much pointless death and suffering could be avoided if we adapted to the changing conditions.

The problem is that with the exception of China, very few governments have the political will to make those changes. They're content with maintaining the current system, at least until some major disaster comes along and ends up killing a lot of people.

>>2862772
>artifical meat
that…that industry is currently failing…

>>2863173
The problem is that it's currently not hype enough for venture capital and getting road blocks from governments getting lobbied by the cattle industry. It needs a lot of investment and research particularly to produce big steel tanks and make it economical even though the technology has already been worked out which is why it's still at least a decade away. So for now it's a rich consumer fad and niche product that's only allowed in a handful of country which means the market won't grow just yet.

>>2863179
which is a problematic issue because Idk if we do have a decade. Also even if we do, it might take longer than a decade. And it would also take time to maximize production in a way that replaces meat.
Theres also the other issue where the cattle industry pressure politicians to fund different alt solutions. Not exactly a great time we live in

>Lake Powell reaching critically low elevation levels, nearing 'dead power pool,' experts say
give me alfalfa or give me death

Everything burns, on the bright side it's a perfect time to really radicalize and enrage the people around you!

We will stop the fires with the blood of the capitalists

>>2863173
Needs to be repossessed by communists for better development and allocation, as with all other technologies controlled and owned by capitalists

>>2876838
as an on-and-off vegan (I often break and eat meat/dairy on holidays) artificial meat is kind of cringe and pointless. a lot of it is just pea protein. might as well eat peas. why turn vegetables into highly processed imitation meats? I would rather just stick toe eating vegetables and then on holidays have a little meat and cheese. Personally what I find objectionable about meat isn't so much the death or even the cruelty, that's purely a moral concern, but it is economically unjustifiable because meat uses way more land and water per kilogram of food product, per 100 grams of protein yielded, per 1000 calories yielded. It is unjustifiable on that grounds. So why add additional processing steps to plant products when the whole advantage of plant products are they require less energy to produce than meat?

>>2877312
Slop text

>>2877321
why do some people think anything longer than 2 sentences or some thought terminating phrase is slop text? are you under 25? did you never learn how to type more than 60 WPM? is reading difficult for you? not trying to insult you. i am really baffled when I type like 5 or six sentences in lower case text and get accused of being ai slop.

>>2877370
Slopper stop slopping. Your text for the most part doesn’t even touch on artificial meat production other than mentioning it’s name. The rest is a weird tangent and arguments that are only applicable for modern day regular meat production. You didn’t even fucking try.

>>2877665
because taking plants and turning them into fake meat just adds a bunch of unnecessary processing steps. why would i eat shitty imitation sausages made out of plant protein when I could just eat peas?

>>2877696
>because taking plants and turning them into fake meat just adds a bunch of unnecessary processing steps.
We are talking about lab grown products, not highly processed plant based imitation products. Also, not every sort of imitation product has to be cost intensive or even highly processed you know?

This video is the second part of a discussion between John Bellamy Foster and Lynn Fries on Marx’s analysis of the dialectics of society and nature. One of Marx’s concerns was how manufacturers would extract soil nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, use them to make products like fiber, and not return the chemicals to the soil but instead generate pollution. And then the clever capitalists would import guano to make synthetic fertilizers to restore the productivity of farmland.

>>2877709
lab grown meat is even stupider.