Philanthropists Continue to Fund Climate Control Measures Despite Skepticism
Funding to combat climate change through innovative atmospheric alterations continues unabated amidst skepticism. Politico recently revealed that significant benefactors linked with Wall Street and Silicon Valley have committed to persistently finance pioneering technology to mitigate global warming. This includes techniques such as brightening clouds to reduce the volume of sunlight penetrating the earth’s atmosphere.
Commitment to Climate Solutions
Rachel Pritzker, founder and president of the Pritzker Innovation Fund, underscored the importance of research that enhances climate models and equips policymakers and the public with a better understanding of feasible and advisable climate interventions, such as marine cloud brightening, despite recent setbacks.
Pritzker’s group is among several entities that have backed research at the University of Washington to explore interventions to minimize the sun’s global warming effects, a scientific field known as “geoengineering.” However, public backlash led to the recent shutdown of two experiments.
Experiments and Setbacks
Recently, a proposal to restart a cloud-brightening test from a decommissioned aircraft carrier in San Francisco Bay was declined by Alameda, California local officials. David Spergel, President of the Simons Foundation, highlighted the crucial aspect of the university’s research into the “basic science” of atmospheric manipulation to prevent climate change, despite not funding that specific experiment.
Support for Basic Science
“Our goal is to support the basic science needed to assess the role of aerosols in the atmosphere, particularly the stratosphere,” Spergel stated, emphasizing the importance of a scientific foundation for society to evaluate the benefits and costs of stratospheric aerosol injection or marine cloud brightening.
The Environmental Defense Fund, another supporter of the university’s projects, vocalized its continued commitment to funding solar geoengineering research despite setbacks. Meanwhile, Quadrature Climate Foundation, tied to hedge fund Quadrature Capital, stated its steadfast commitment to funding this research, pledging $40 million to sun-blocking technology research.
Political Support
High-profile donors aren’t the only ones interested in this research. Even the Biden administration has expressed support for it. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy recently disclosed its team’s research into geoengineering methods to thwart the acceleration of global warming by the sun’s rays.
Original Story at www.foxnews.com